Sophie Kinsella death: Which novels did she write, who is her husband Henry Wickham, do they have children?
Novelist Sophie Kinsella’s death was confirmed by her family.
Author Sophie Kinsella, whose real name was Madeleine Sophie Wickham, has died at 55. Her family confirmed her passing in a post on Instagram which read: “We are heartbroken to announce the passing this morning of our beloved Sophie (aka Maddy, aka Mummy). 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. 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💔💔💔.”
One of her fans wrote: “ Us romance readers owe you everything, Sophie ❤️, whilst another said: “Her novel, Twenties Girl has a special place in my heart. 🤍”
In April 2024, Sophie Kinsella took to Instagram and wrote: “To my dear readers & followers,
“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. 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.’
“I have been under the care of the excellent team at University College Hospital in London and have had successful surgery and subsequent radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which is still ongoing.
“At the moment all is stable and I am feeling generally very well, though I get very tired and my memory is even worse than it was before!
“I am so grateful to my family and close friends who have been an incredible support to me, and to the wonderful doctors and nurses who have treated me. I am also so grateful to my readers for your constant support. The wonderful response to The Burnout has really buoyed me up, during a difficult time.
“To everyone who is suffering from cancer in any form I send love and best wishes, as well as to those who support them. It can feel very lonely and scary to have a tough diagnosis, and the support and care of those around you means more than words can say.
“I’ll be in touch soon, and in the meanwhile, greetings from sunny London.
“Sophie xx.”
In response, one fan wrote: “Your books have got me through a variety of tough times and you remain to this day, undoubtedly, my favourite author! My mum went through cancer and reading ‘what does it feel like?’ made me wish I’d known how it felt like for her. You are so brave! Positive vibes, strength and optimism for you and your family❤️❤️.”
Who is Sophie Kinsella’s husband, do they have children?
Sophie Kinsella married Henry Wickham in 1991, the couple met in 1991. He is a former head of Lockers Park School but then went on to manage her business affairs.
In 1991, Kinsella married Henry Wickham, whom she had met at Oxford. A schoolmaster, he became head of Lockers Park School and now manages her business affairs. The couple have four children, four sons: Freddy, Hugo, Oscar, Rex and a daughter, Sybella.
When she appeared on Lorraine in 2024, to promote her semi-autobiographical book What Does It Feel Like, which explores her cancer battle, Sophie Kinsella said of her husband that “'Honestly I couldn't have survived [without him] but it was hard for him. It's really hard to tell someone bad news.”
“You get upset yourself, you see their reaction and he had to tell me more than once, over and over, this bad news "You've got cancer and it's incurable".
“'I don't know how he did it. I think that's where he showed his greatest love for me, was doing that patiently and never once expecting me to remember, always understanding that my brain wasn't the same.”
When Sophie Kinsella was working as a financial journalist, she wrote her first novel The Tennis Party at 24. She then published six more novels under the name Madeline Wickham.
According to The Bookseller, “Five years later, writing as Sophie Kinsella, she published The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic, which introduced readers to the beloved Becky Bloomwood, "a character for our times, funny, feisty and without a trace of guile". Over the next 25 years, Wickham would write eight further Shopaholic novels and another 18 books, including one YA novel and four children’s books.”