Oliver Conway

So in that case, monogamy gets going more readily.

Anthropologist Mark Dybul.

The best-selling author Sophie Kinsella has died at the age of just 55.

The shopaholic series writer, whose real name was Madeleine Sophie Wickham, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2022.

Lizo Mazimba looks back at her career.

She sold almost 45 million copies of her books around the world, with her best-selling Shopaholic series making her one of the UK's most famous authors.

Like the book's central character, Sophie Kinsella started out as a financial journalist who wasn't great with money.

But Kinsella's writing made her a literary superstar, the first two Shopaholic books being made into a Hollywood film.

A film which at times felt semi-autobiographical.

The initial inspiration for the book, which is a girl opening her Visa bill and these emotions which go through her head.

$200 on Marc Jacobs' underwear.

All of that came from my exact feelings when I opened my Visa bill.

Like, what?

I went to this shop.

I don't remember that.

And not being able to sort of associate this bill with what I'd done in real life.

As well as the shopaholic books, Kinsella also wrote more than a dozen best-selling standalone novels, her writing never failing to strike a chord with readers.

I think that they relate to my characters.

They sort of see themselves in the characters.

They see those flaws and foibles.