Sophie Kinsella, the British author best known for her Shopaholic series of comic novels, has died at 55, the Guardian reports.

Kinsella worked in financial journalism before making her literary debut in 1995 with The Tennis Party, published under her real name, Madeleine Wickham. She released six more novels under that name, including A Desirable Residence, Swimming Pool Sunday, and Cocktails for Three.

In 2000, she published her first novel as Kinsella, The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic, released in the U.S. the following year as Confessions of a Shopaholic. The novel followed Becky Bloomwood, a financial journalist who is herself in deep debt because of her love of shopping; a critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “A have-your-cake-and-eat-it romp, done with brio and not a syllable of moralizing. Newcomer Kinsella has a light touch and puckish humor.”

She would go on to write eight more novels in the series, including Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic Ties the Knot, Shopaholic & Baby, and Christmas Shopaholic. Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Takes Manhattan were adapted into a 2009 film, Confessions of a Shopaholic, directed by P. J. Hogan and starring Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Joan Cusack, and John Goodman.

Kinsella’s stand-alone novels include Can You Keep a Secret?, I’ve Got Your Number, My (Not So) Perfect Life, and I Owe You One. In 2024, she announced that she had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, two years earlier, and that she would publish a novella, What Does It Feel Like?, later that year.

Kinsella’s admirers paid tribute to her on social media. On the platform X, a reader named Divya Mangotra Manchanda wrote, “This feels like a personal loss. Sophie Kinsella will always hold a special place in my heart—her books reignited my love for reading when I was 18, and have brought me joy through every season of life. There will always be a shelf in my home dedicated to her books. May her soul rest in peace.”

And a user named Laura posted, “So sad to hear about Sophie Kinsella. Her books are a gift, she had a real art of placing you in that character’s head so you go through the emotions with them. My sister and I reference them often and they'll remain a great source of joy and comfort. Sophie will be so, so missed.”

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.