Madeleine Sophie Wickham (née Townley; 12 December 1969 – 10 December 2025), known by her pen name Sophie Kinsella, was an English author. She is especially known for her best-selling Shopaholic series of novels. The first two novels in the series, The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic (2000) and Shopaholic Abroad (2001), were adapted into the film Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009).

Early life and education
Madeleine Sophie Townley was born on 12 December 1969[1] in Roehampton, South West London to parents David Townley and Patricia (née Kinsella), a teacher and a lecturer respectively.[2] She had maternal Irish heritage.[3] She was the eldest of three daughters.[4]

She was educated at Putney High School, St Mary's School, Shaftesbury, Sherborne School for Girls, and New College, Oxford, where she initially studied Music, but after a year switched to Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), graduating with a BA.[4]

She worked as a financial journalist (including for Pensions World) before turning to writing fiction.[5]

Career
At the age of 24, Kinsella wrote her first novel, which was published in 1995 when she was 26. The Tennis Party (later republished as 40 Love in 2011) was immediately hailed as a success by critics and the public alike[citation needed] and became a top-ten bestseller.[clarification needed] She went on to publish six more novels as Madeleine Wickham: A Desirable Residence (1996), Swimming Pool Sunday (1997), The Gatecrasher (1998), The Wedding Girl (1999), Cocktails for Three (2000), and Sleeping Arrangements (2001). These were all published before she adopted a pseudonym.[6]

Wickham's first novel under the pseudonym Sophie Kinsella (taken from her middle name and her mother's maiden name)[7] was submitted to her publishers anonymously and was enthusiastically received. She revealed her real identity for the first time when her fourth pseudonymous novel Can You Keep a Secret? (her seventh novel overall) was published in December 2003.[8]

Kinsella is best known for having written the Shopaholic series of chick lit novels, which concern the misadventures of Becky Bloomwood, a financial journalist who cannot manage her own finances. Becky is also known for her relationship with Luke. A theme of the series is her obsession with shopping and its resulting complications for her life. The first two Shopaholic books were adapted into the film Confessions of a Shopaholic, released in February 2009.[9][10]

Shopaholic to the Rescue was released on 22 October 2015; "Christmas Shopaholic" was released in October 2019. Her most recent standalone novels are My Not So Perfect Life (2017), Surprise Me (2018), I Owe You One (Feb 2019), Love Your Life (2020), The Party Crasher (2021), The Burnout (2023), and What Does It Feel Like? (2024).[11] In 2015, she branched into Young Adult writing with her first YA book, Finding Audrey, published in June 2015.[12]

A musical adaptation of Kinsella's novel Sleeping Arrangements by Chris Burgess was premiered on 17 April 2013 in London at the Landor Theatre.[13]

By the time of her death, her books had sold over 50 million copies in more than 60 countries and had been translated into over 40 languages.[14]