Bestselling British author Sophie Kinsella says she is “feeling generally very well” after undergoing chemotherapy for an “aggressive” form of brain cancer.
Kinsella – whose real name is Madeleine Sophie Wickham – announced the news on Instagram, revealing the cancer was diagnosed at the end of 2022.
“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,” she wrote.
“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’.”
Success with Shopaholic series
Kinsella, 54, has written over 30 novels under both her Sophie Kinsella pen name and as Madeleine Wickham.
In 2009, the first two novels in her Shopaholic series were adapted into the film Confessions of a Shopaholic, starring Australian actor Isla Fisher.
Messages of support have flooded Kinsella’s post, with Fisher writing: “Sending you so much love and healing energy.”
“You were the first adult fiction I ever read, age 17. I owe you a lot,” wrote fellow author Gillian McAllister.
Kinsella says she has been receiving treatment at the University College Hospital in London and has undergone 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!”
Kinsella said she was grateful to her family, friends and the “wonderful doctors and nurses who have treated me”.
Kinsella’s latest novel, The Burnout, was released in October 2023.
“I am also so grateful to my readers for your constant support,” she added.
“The wonderful response to The Burnout has really buoyed me up, during a difficult time.”
Brain cancer signs and symptoms
It’s estimated that more than 1,900 people were diagnosed with brain cancer in Australia last year, according to the Cancer Council.
Headaches are often the first symptom of a brain tumour, with other symptoms including:
- Seizures: severe (e.g. a convulsion) or mild (a fleeting disturbance of awareness, sensation or jerking muscles)
- Weakness or paralysis in part of the body
- Loss of balance
- General irritability, drowsiness or a change in personality
- Nausea and vomiting
- Disturbed vision, hearing, smell or taste.
The average age at diagnosis is 59 years old, and there is currently no national screening program for brain cancer available in Australia.
“To everyone who is suffering from cancer in any form I send love and best wishes, as well as to those who support them,” Kinsella wrote.
“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.”