What Does It Feel Like? - Sophie Kinsella - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: Sophie Kinsella

GENRE: Autofiction

PUBLICATION DATE: October 8, 2024

RATING: 4.5 stars

In a Nutshell: A heartfelt novella inspired by the author’s own health scare. Not a light romcom like her other works. Heartbreaking, pragmatic, humorous, hopeful. I never thought I would recommend a Sophie Kinsella book this strongly, but never say never, right? Much recommended!

Plot Preview:

Eve Monroe has it all. She’s a successful author with a huge fan following. One of her books has even been turned into a successful Hollywood movie. She has a loving husband and five adorable children. In short, she is lucky. Perhaps, too lucky, because one day, her luck runs out. When she wakes up in bed with no memory of what happened to her, her husband explains that she had undergone an operation to remove a large tumour from her brain. Unfortunately, the tumour turned out to be malignant. As Eve comes to terms with her diagnosis and what it means for her, her family, and their future, she takes us on an emotional journey filled with heartwarming and heartwrenching moments.

The story comes to us in Eve’s first-person perspective.

I am not a Sophie Kinsella fan. To be clear, I respect her for sticking to her genre and doing a wonderful job satisfying light romcom readers. It is just that those books, with their frivolous heroines, aren’t for me. I read eight of her novels before I finally accepted that she wasn’t my cup of tea and resolved never to read her again. Why simply read a book that's not our type and then give it a negative rating, right? So this book came as a surprise addition to my reading list, and that’s mainly because it is different in style and approach to all her earlier works.

In April 2024, Kinsella revealed that she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2022. To say that I was shocked on seeing this update is an understatement. Cancer is never welcome, but to hear that someone youngish is going through this is always difficult to accept. It makes you question your own health, to wonder if you are taking everything for granted, to introspect on what you would do if you were in that position. With all my heart, I rooted for her complete recovery, especially for the sake of her five children. When I heard that she had written a novella as a semi-autobiographical version of her journey through cancer, I knew I would read one more Sophie Kinsella work, this time without any hesitation.

This book is written as a series of vignettes. Scenes from “Before” give us an insight into who “Eve Monroe” is, and the “After” tells us of what happens after her surgery. In between the shortish chapters, the narrative is interspersed with phone conversations, messages, notes on how to get through certain events, and “early morning conversations” between Eve and her husband about their future. This approach makes the novella even more poignant. There were many scenes when my eyes welled up. Her description of her experience is so vivid that the whole story played out like a movie in front of my eyes. The most painful to read were her introspective thoughts on what would happen to her children. This is such a real fear for moms!

As this is autofiction, there is a strong sense of honesty and authenticity to the words. As such, it is very tough to stop picturing Sophie Kinsella in the first person, even though we know that we are hearing the journey of a fictional character named Eve; there’s so much of herself she has put into Eve. The author’s note at the end of the book reveals the extent of the overlap between fact and fiction.

I won't reveal details about the cancer itself and about Eve’s (and Sophie’s) prognosis. The author has been so successful in conveying her emotional upheaval through this novella that I would like readers to pick it up and discover her story themselves.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook, clocking at a little under two hours, is narrated by Sally Phillips. Whatever Sophie Kinsella conveyed with her writing, Phillips does justice to with her performance, Every emotion, every dialogue, every accent is voiced brilliantly.

Much recommended to those who can handle the emotional intensity of this work. Kinsella spares no efforts to tell you “what does it feel like.” So don't read this when you are in not in a strong headspace, especially if you too are a mother with dependent kids or are a cancer patient/caregiver.

4.5 stars, happy to round upwards wherever applicable while sending best wishes the way of the author.

My thanks to Random House Publishing Group and The Dial Press for providing the DRC of “What Does It Feel Like?” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.