'Shopaholic' author Sophie Kinsella reveals brain cancer diagnosis

The author of the "Shopaholic" book series that was turned into a movie is battling glioblastoma, a cancerous and aggressive brain tumor.

Sophie Kinsella, 54, shared in a message on social media that she was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2022 but took time to share the diagnosis publicly.

"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,'" Kinsella wrote Wednesday.

Kinsella, whose birth name is Madeleine Wickham, added that she is currently undergoing chemotherapy after already completing radiation and surgery at University College Hospital in London.

"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!," she wrote. "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."

Glioblastoma is considered a rare but "very aggressive" form of cancer that develops from a type of brain cell known as an astrocyte, according to the U.S. Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center.

Symptoms of the cancer can include headache, nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness, according to the Center.

Treatments are available, but there is no known cure for the glioblastoma, and the exact underlying cause is typically unknown. It is the same type of cancer that claimed the life of longtime senator and former presidential candidate John McCain in 2018.

Kinsella offered her support to others affected by cancer, writing, "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."

The U.K.-based author closed her message by sharing that she would be in touch "soon."

Kinsella's books have sold over 45 million copies, according to her website. Her first book in the Shopaholic series, "The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic," was published in 2000.

The series was later turned into a Disney movie, "Confessions of a Shopaholic," starring Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy.

In addition to the Shopaholic series, Kinsella has written over one dozen other novels, starting with her first book, "The Tennis Party, which she wrote under her birth name, according to her website.

Kinsella's most recent book, "Burnout," was published last year.

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