Sophie Kinsella, the author of the bestselling “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” has died, according to her family. She was 55.

Kinsella, whose real name is Madeleine Wickham, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in 2022.

“We are heartbroken to announce the passing this morning of our beloved Sophie (aka Maddy, aka Mummy),” Kinsella’s family said in a statement posted to her Instagram account on Wednesday. “She died peacefully, with her final days filled with her true loves: family and music and warmth and Christmas and joy.”

“We can’t imagine what life will be like without her radiance and love of life,” the statement continued. “Despite her illness, which she bore with unimaginable courage, Sophie counted herself truly blessed — to have such wonderful family and friends, and to have had the extraordinary success of her writing career. She took nothing for granted and was forever grateful for the love she received. She will be missed so much, our hearts are breaking.”

She is survived by her husband, Henry Wickham, and their five children.

The journey from journalist to novelist

Kinsella did not set out to be a novelist. She initially studied music at Oxford before switching to politics, philosophy and economics. After graduation, she became a financial journalist but began to write fiction on the train during her commute to central London.

In 1995, Kinsella published her first novel, ”The Tennis Party,” under her given name, Madeleine Wickham. She quit journalism to focus on writing.

In 2000, she published the first of 10 “Shopaholic” novels, “The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic” (titled “Confessions of a Shopaholic” in the United States), under her pen name Sophie Kinsella, a combination of her middle name (Sophie) and her mother’s maiden name (Kinsella).

The first two were adapted for the 2009 film Confessions of a Shopaholic, starring Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy.

Fisher played Rebecca Bloomwood, the protagonist from the “Shopaholic” series, a bubbly twentysomething financial journalist with a chronic shopping habit and mounting credit card debt.

The books went on to sell more than 45 million copies worldwide.

She also wrote more than a dozen novels outside of the “Shopaholic Series,” including “Can You Keep a Secret?”, which was also adapted into a film. Her most recent book, “What Does It Feel Like?” an autobiographical novella about an author who is diagnosed with a brain tumor, was published last year.

Living with brain cancer

Kinsella disclosed her own diagnosis in April 2024.

“To my dear readers, I’ve wanted for a long time to share with you a health update and I’ve been waiting for the strength to do so,” Kinsella wrote in a note on her website. “At the end of 2022 I was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of aggressive brain cancer. I did not share this before because I wanted to make sure that my children were able to hear and process the news in privacy and adapt to our ‘new normal.’”

In an interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts that July, she opened up about living with brain cancer.

“I’ve already lasted more than the average,” Kinsella said. “That’s how we get through. We hope.”