RIP Sophie Kinsella, beloved Shopaholic author

Sophie Kinsella, author

Today would have been Sophie Kinsella's 56th birthday, had she not passed away on Monday from a glioblastoma that has been affecting her these past three years, at least. I loved listening to her audiobooks as I did chores, as she has a lively, blithe sort of humor that hits the spot for me. 

I once created a mural of some of my inspirational writers and artists surrounding me in which Sophie is directly under my own picture, symbolizing how she was shoring me up with her humor. It hangs in my study. I'll admit that when I tried to actually read her novels in print, I didn't find them nearly as engaging as the audiobooks, perhaps as the plots aren't particularly intricate, so I decided that the hilarity is better heard than read.  Still, she cheered me through some rough patches, and I have a huge soft spot for this wonderful author.  My favorite of her books is actually Twenties Girl, and I enjoyed Remember Me a lot, too, but the first couple of Shopaholic novels, especially, are the ones that put me in stitches. The content of some of her newer works didn't appeal to me as much, so I haven't stayed up to date on her writing, but here's something I wrote back in 2009: 

"...[I've been] inspired by the book of a new favorite author, Sophie Kinsella.  I LOVE SOPHIE KINSELLA!!!  She's a fabulous, wonderful author with an amazing ability to inspire with her ridiculous, lighthearted situations.  She is a wonderful Sagittarius, as are many of my very favorite people (though ironically, NONE of my immediate family members are Sag).
 
I am on my third Kinsella book, which is her original Confessions of a Shopaholic. Becky Bloomwood is a lovable character with a penchant for getting herself into scrapes. Her life is a roller coaster of highs and lows, and, though it does seem a bit shallow, she inspires by constantly letting insurmountable troubles fall away in her unbelievable optimism! This story encourages us to Try, Try Again! It's also a boon for our egos, as our own faults seem less severe after making so many allowances for Becky's!
 
I actually identified a bit with Becky when I would feel her horrible, mortifying lows and wallow in them just a tad, only to feel myself lifting out of those lows way before I expected to when she would bounce back with her cheery, perky, optimistic attitude.  You just can't resist laughing at her...and knowing that she's right!  No sense in wallowing!
 
I have watched small children instantaneously jump from tantrum to cheery play, and I've often been quite relieved that they don't have the self-consciousness to resist that jump.  Truly, I think many of us are attached to our troubles out of a sense of congruity.  If we're devastated tonight, then it would be terribly shallow to be bright and perky tomorrow--and it would somehow negate the authenticity of our feelings, goes the logic.
 
Yes, I did feel disconcerted at times by Becky's ability to bounce back and not dwell on her troubles, but I also felt inspired.  We create our lives, and a big part of that is trying to achieve our goals.  Clinging to negative emotions or situations makes our life about those, instead of a balance of highs and lows.  Perhaps we should just aim to fully experience them as quickly as possible and then we're off to experience the next high with full enjoyment. 
 
I suppose that's part of the attraction of the book for me.  Becky DID experience those lows.  She berated herself, felt extreme humiliation, fully realized and experienced the drama of the situation.  Utterly satisfactory wallowing and wailing!  Her indomitable spirits surged back, though, unfailingly. She did acknowledge her likeness to a child at one point, when she commented "like a child on Christmas morning...well, okay, like ME on Christmas morning."

Children have a certain wisdom in their unaffected simplicity in dealing with trials.  We MUST bounce back in order to enjoy our lives, because we ALL have problems.  So in this sense, Happiness is dependent on letting go of our attachments, much as the Buddhists tell us.  I would say the attachments to our troubles are some of the first attachments we need to eliminate....

...[So, Sophie Kinsella is currently my new favorite author of the moment], but it just occurred to me last night the coincidence that I'd set up my 'Mii' character on our 'Wii' with the name Sophii... and with the birthday of 12/12 (the 180 degree opposite birthday of mine, for my Mii alterego). Anyhow, Sophie Kinsella's birthday happens to be December 12th! Isn't that almost uncanny that I picked the same name and birthday of my next favorite author, before I'd even heard of her?"