The last time I read a Sophie Kinsella novel, I channeled my inner Audrey Hepburn a la Breakfast at Tiffany‘s as I feverishly turned the pages at the New York Public Library.

Like Confessions of a Shopaholic, Can you Keep a Secret?, and Twenties Girl before it, The Burnout captured my attention immediately, caused a few belly laughs, and reminded me (yet again) why I love to read.

Later on that month, The Burnout also made for an engaging book club discussion in my living room. Everybody enjoyed the storyline, the characters, the crazy antics, something Sophie did in spectacular ways over and over again with every new release.

To wit, Sophie’s novels were always an auto-buy. Whatever the premise, I was in.

Sophie also inspired me as a writer of novels formerly known as chick lit. Her heroines were messy, funny (sometimes unintentionally so), curious, complicated, and a joy to spend time with. Sophie had an innate ability to stage a scene for maximum impact, something that helped me push my own limits.

I’d like to think that Sophie would’ve liked Brighton Knightley from my latest novel, The Honorary Italians. Whenever I was writing Brighton’s scenes I imagined how Sophie might get her into trouble and really went for it.

Like so many book lovers, I was absolutely gutted by Sophie’s recent passing. She was only 55 years old. A friend and I both talked about how we wanted to read her latest novella, What Does It Feel Like? but couldn’t for personal reasons.

Inspired by Sophie’s battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, readers say What Does It Feel Like? processes a horrible diagnosis in such a life-affirming way. The way Sophie has always written…with warmth, humor, and joy.

And from the tributes I’ve been reading about Sophie herself, it seems the wife, mother of five, and inspiration and champion of her fellow writers, lived her life the same way.