Sophie Kinsella

Author

Sophie Kinsella is the pen name of Madeleine Wickham, a British author who became one of the world's bestselling and most beloved writers of comic fiction. Her Shopaholic series, featuring the irrepressible Becky Bloomwood, has sold over forty million copies worldwide and been translated into more than forty languages. Born Madeleine... Townley in London in 1969, she studied Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at New College, Oxford, and worked as a financial journalist before turning to fiction. She published several novels under her real name, Madeleine Wickham, including The Tennis Party and A Desirable Residence, before creating the pen name Sophie Kinsella for The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic (2000). The Shopaholic series — which includes Shopaholic Abroad, Shopaholic & Sister, Shopaholic & Baby, Mini Shopaholic, and several more instalments — follows Becky Bloomwood, a financial journalist with a catastrophic shopping habit and an irresistible talent for getting into and out of trouble. The series became a global phenomenon, spawning the 2009 film Confessions of a Shopaholic. Beyond Shopaholic, Kinsella has written hugely successful standalone novels including Can You Keep a Secret?, The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me?, Finding Audrey, My Not So Perfect Life, and many others. Her books combine laugh-out-loud comedy with warmth, sharp observation, and surprisingly moving emotional moments. In 2024, Kinsella publicly shared that she had been diagnosed with a brain tumour, a revelation that prompted an outpouring of love and support from readers and fellow authors around the world. The audiobook editions of Kinsella's novels are enormously popular, with narrators perfectly capturing the breathless energy, comic timing, and emotional warmth of her writing. Her books are ideal audiobook listening — funny, absorbing, and utterly engaging. Sophie Kinsella's books and audiobooks have brought joy to millions of readers. She is one of the most successful British authors of her generation and a master of comic fiction with heart. Read more Show less