Sophie Kinsella’s widower says she is ‘loving us forward’ a year after her death
The widower of bestselling author Sophie Kinsella has said she is “loving us forward” almost a year after her death.
The author, who was best known for her Shopaholic series, died in December last year aged 55, after being diagnosed with a form of aggressive brain cancer.
Madeleine Sophie Wickham, who wrote under the pen name Sophie Kinsella, was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2022.
Her widower, Henry Wickham, has unveiled a plaque in her honour at Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute where scientists are pioneering studies into how to tackle the deadly cancer.
In an emotional interview with the Press Association, he described how the author left him notes and instructions on “how to carry on”.
Mr Wickham said the “terrible disease” caught the family “completely unaware” when his wife was diagnosed.
“Sophie Kinsella sold millions of books, but to us she was Maddie, she was mummy, she was an incredible individual,” he said.
“One of the things that was amazing about her suffering from this illness was that she always bore it incredibly well, she was so concerned about other people at all times.
“She had such love for others who were suffering from this disease and she connected with many privately and was able to offer support and was offered support back.”
Mr Wickham went on: “It’s coming up to a year now since Sophie died.
“I would say that we are actually doing really well, it may sound odd, but one of the things that Sophie did was that she was very keen to look after us going forward, and I’ve heard this described by the therapist I see as ‘loving us forward’.
“She wanted us to do well.
“She did a video for the family, she wrote notes to me, she gave me instructions about how to carry on and it’s made a massive difference to our lives, to feel that she is loving us forward and wanting us to enjoy our lives.
“I think one of the things you learn from having a terminal illness… you realise how important life is, and realise how important it is to take your opportunities in life.”
During the tour of the lab, Mr Wickham added: “I tell you what Sophie would say. The first thing we should say is: ‘Do they really all have to wear white coats? Could they not have more colourful things?’ She’d want to style the lab a bit.
“She was very intellectual, she would have had very tough questions for those in charge of the lab.”
The family has donated to The Brain Tumour Charity which is supporting the work of Professor Pau Creixell and his team at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute.
Glioblastomas are the most common type of aggressive brain tumour found in adults – even after treatments including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy the tumours frequently recur.
Prof Creixell’s work is on the the inhibition of tumour growth by stopping the action of three key proteins, which all belong to a family of proteins called protein kinases.
“What’s interesting about glioblastoma is that as a disease, we are starting to understand the molecules within the cells that are driving that disease, what’s promoting the cells to become cancerous and for that brain tumour to start to grow,” said Prof Creixell.
“What’s more challenging is how we stop that from happening.
“There are specific proteins that we study in the lab, protein kinases, and we’re starting to understand the best way to block them, so that disease won’t progress.”
Dr Michele Afif, chief executive of The Brain Tumour Charity, said: “We are hugely grateful to Sophie’s family and their wide network of friends for doing so much to support the research we fund.
“It’s helping scientists pursue new approaches to treat glioblastoma when current options are so incredibly limited.”
Kinsella’s novels sold more than 45 million copies in more than 60 countries, and have been translated into more than 40 languages.
While working as a financial journalist she wrote her first book, The Tennis Party, aged 24, under her real name.
She published six more novels as Madeleine Wickham, and five years later used her pen name, Sophie Kinsella, for her Shopaholic series.
The first two works in her hit eight-book Shopaholic series, The Secret Dreamworld Of A Shopaholic and Shopaholic Abroad, were adapted into the 2009 film Confessions Of A Shopaholic, starring Isla Fisher.
Kinsella released The Burnout in October 2023 and her other bestselling books include Can You Keep A Secret? and The Undomestic Goddess.
She described her last novel, What Does It Feel Like?, which was published in 2024 and featured a character called Eve who was living with a brain tumour, as her “most autobiographical to date” and said she “always processed my life through writing”.
Published: by Radio NewsHub