Sophie Kinsella, bestselling author of the “Confessions of a Shopaholic” book series, has died days before her birthday, her family announced on Wednesday. She was 55.

“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,” the family wrote on Kinsella’s Instagram account.

Kinsella, whose real name is Madeleine Sophie Wickham, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, in 2022. She underwent surgery, radiation and chemotherapy to treat the disease.

The prolific author has at least 35 titles to her name (and her pen name) and has sold more than 45 million copies of her books, according to her official biography. Her 2000 novel, “The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic” — known as “Confessions of a Shopaholic” in the U.S. — follows financial journalist Rebecca Bloomwood and her compulsive shopping habit, which spawned eight sequels about Becky’s fantastical over-spending exploits. The first two titles in the series were adapted for film in 2009; the “Confessions of a Shopaholic” movie starred Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Krysten Ritter and Joan Cusack.

Kinsella’s works often centered young working women whose professional and personal lives are upended by chance encounters, such as a young marketing representative’s unwitting confessions to a CEO on an airplane in 2003’s “Can You Keep a Secret?” (adapted into a movie in 2019) and a pair of corporate burnouts’ unexpected relationship at a decrepit seaside resort in 2023‘s “The Burnout.” For Kinsella’s female protagonists, intersections of work and love are often par for the course for self-discovery.

“I just think there’s something exciting about the time of life when you’re on the lookout for opportunities in all directions ... everything is ahead of you,” Kinsella told NPR in 2019. “And for me, the wide-open horizon is so exciting.”

A mother of five children, Kinsella also wove themes of inheritance, legacy and family into works including “I Owe You One” and “The Party Crasher.” She also penned works for younger audiences, including her young adult novel “Finding Audrey” about a teenage girl who lives with anxiety and her “Mummy Fair and Me” series, a collection of illustrated books that follows a mother-daughter fairy duo.

She published her final novella “What Does It Feel Like?” in October 2024. It follows a successful novelist as she rebuilds her life following surgery for a malignant brain tumor.

Madeleine Sophie Wickham was born Dec. 12, 1969, in London to teachers David and Patricia. She first studied music at the New College of the University of Oxford before pivoting to politics, philosophy and economics a year into her studies. Before the success of the “Shopaholic” series, she worked as a financial journalist and published her first book “The Tennis Party” at age 24 under her real name. Her early works, including “A Desirable Residence,” “Swimming Pool Sunday” and “Sleeping Arrangements,” were darker in tone and differed from the witty, heroine-driven works she’s best known for, she said on her website.

“Confessions of a Shopaholic” was the first book she published under her pen name Sophie Kinsella, both a nod to her middle name and her mother’s maiden name. The moniker was just one of the ways she infused her life into her profession.

“I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative,” Kinsella said of her final work. “It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me.”

Her family celebrated her bravery in the face of her cancer battle in Wednesday’s announcement.

“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,” the Instagram post said. “She took nothing for granted and was forever grateful for the love she received.”

The announcement concluded, saying “She will be missed so much our hearts are breaking” followed by three broken heart emojis.

Kinsella’s survivors include her husband and manager Henry Wickham, their four sons and one daughter.

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(Times deputy editor Joseph Serna and former Times staff writer Nardine Saad contributed to this report.)

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