What Does It Feel Like?

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • From #1 bestselling author Sophie Kinsella, an unforgettable story—by turns heartbreaking and life-affirming—of a renowned novelist facing a devastating diagnosis and learning to live and love anew.

“The bravest book you’ll read all year.”—Jodi Picoult

“Only Sophie Kinsella can make you laugh like this while she’s got you crying.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid

A PARADE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

“What Does It Feel Like? is fiction, but it is my most autobiographical work to date. Eve’s story is my story.”—Sophie Kinsella

Eve is a successful novelist who wakes up one day in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. Her husband, never far from her side, explains that she has had an operation to remove the large, malignant tumor growing in her brain.

As Eve learns to walk, talk, and write again—and as she wrestles with her diagnosis, and how and when to explain it to her beloved children—she begins to recall what’s most important to her: long walks with her husband’s hand clasped firmly around her own, family game nights, and always buying that dress when she sees it.

Recounted in brief anecdotes, each one is an attempt to answer the type of impossible questions recognizable to anyone navigating the labyrinth of grief. This short, extraordinary novel is a celebration of life, shot through with warmth and humor—it will both break your heart and put it back together again.

“Why did I write such a personal book? I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me.”—Sophie Kinsella

About the Author :
Sophie Kinsella was a writer and financial journalist. She was the #1 bestselling author of Can You Keep a Secret?, The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me?, Twenties Girl, I’ve Got Your Number, Wedding Night, My Not So Perfect Life, Surprise Me, The Burnout, What Does It Feel Like?, the hugely popular Shopaholic novels, and the young adult novel Finding Audrey. She passed away in 2025.

Review :
“Soul-stirring, funny, and beautiful. A must-read.”—Zibby Owens, Katie Couric Media

“I laughed. And I cried. And then I thought about the meaning of life. It’s a little jewel of a book.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Jojo Moyes

“Kinsella is a skillful storyteller. She doesn’t front-load the narrative with exposition, instead parceling out information organically. . . . Most resonant is this book’s bravery—and its emotional honesty.”—The Wall Street Journal

“A powerful tale about love, life and grief . . . filled with poignant moments and Kinsella’s signature charm.”—Woman’s World

“Only Sophie Kinsella can make you laugh like this while she’s got you crying. What Does it Feel Like? is daring and original—both a breath of fresh air and a deeply courageous story. This is one of the gutsiest moves I’ve seen from a writer in a long time. I could not put it down.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“As writers we are told to write what we know—but there are some things people wish they never had to learn. Such is the case for Sophie Kinsella, whose new novel follows an author whose greatest asset—a creative brain—becomes her biggest liability when it develops a cancerous tumor. Hearing from the point of view of a novelist who has crafted so many stories but doesn’t know how her own will end is raw, humbling, and tender. This is the bravest book you’ll read all year.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult
 
“What Does It Feel Like? is not the kind of book that uses silliness and joy to divert readers from their lives. But, in a sense, it’s a way for readers who have been rescued by Kinsella to repay her—to witness what she’s gone through as she uses words to process her pain and search for catharsis.”—The Washington Post

“A beautiful love story, and a glowing beacon of hope in the midst of terrible darkness.”—Bestselling author Jenny Colgan