Product Description

A wonderfully warm and heartfelt debut from a stunning new talent. Everyone needs a guardian angel! Some people wait their whole lives to find their soul mates. But not Holly and Gerry. Childhood sweethearts, they could finish each other's sentences and even when they fought, they laughed. No one could imagine Holly and Gerry without each other. Until the unthinkable happens. Gerry's death devastates Holly. But as her 30th birthday looms, Gerry comes back to her. He's left her a bundle of notes, one for each of the months after his death, gently guiding Holly into her new life without him, each note signed 'PS, I Love You'. As the notes are gradually opened, and as the year unfolds, Holly is both cheered up and challenged. The man who knows her better than anyone sets out to teach her that life goes on. With some help from her friends, and her noisy and loving family, Holly finds herself laughing, crying, singing, dancing -- and being braver than ever before. Life is for living, she realises -- but it always helps if there's an angel watching over you.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #170650 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Cecelia Ahern's debut novel, PS, I Love You, follows the engaging, witty and occasionally sappy reawakening of Holly, a young Irish widow who must put her life back together after she loses her husband Gerry to a brain tumour. Ahern, the twentysomething daughter of Ireland's Prime Minister, has discovered a clever and original twist to the Moving On After Death concept made famous by novelists and screenwriters alike--Gerry has left Holly a series of letters designed to help her face the year ahead and carry on with her life. As the novel takes readers through the seasons (and through Gerry's monthly directives), we watch as Holly finds a new job, takes a holiday to Spain with her girlfriends, and sorts through her beloved husband's belongings. Accompanying Holly throughout the healing process is a cast of friends and family members who add as much to the novel's success as Holly's own tale of survival. In fact, it is these supporting characters' mini-dramas that make PS, I Love You more than just another superficial tearjerker with the obligatory episode at a karaoke bar. Ahern shows real talent for capturing the essence of an interaction between friends and foes alike; even if Holly's circle of friends does resemble the gang from Bridget Jones a bit too neatly to ignore (her best friend is even called Sharon).

While her style can be at times repetitive and her delivery is occasionally amateurish, Ahern deserves credit for a spirited first effort. If PS, I Love You is any indication of this author's talent, readers have much to look forward to as Ahern matures as a novelist and a storyteller. --Gisele Toueg, Amazon.com

Review
Cecelia was featured in Elle's'Hot 100 for 2004' at no 19.

Fluffy romance from the cute-as-a-button daughter of Ireland's Prime Minister. At the tender age of 22, film student Ahern pens her very first novel! The heroine: a young widow, Holly Kennedy, who discovers a batch of letters from her late husband Gerry, one for every month of the year. Yes, the posthumous postings are meant to help Holly heal, to laugh again and love again, and to remind her always to walk on the sunny side of the street, cherishing her memories and the happy future ahead (come to think of it, only a 22-year-old could write a book like this). Tra-la-la, come skip down the streets of Dublin with Holly and her chum Sharon. They spend a lot of time "laughing and joking about old times, then crying, followed by some more laughing, then more crying again." Though still consumed by grief, Holly can see that she has dark circles under her eyes, her hair is a fright, and her lips are chewed and chapped. Maybe now it's time to stop crying! And as she opens the first envelope to read Gerry's letter, she realizes that tomorrow is a new day. Reassured that Gerry is looking down from heaven, she vows to follow his lighthearted, loving advice and buy that new lamp, sing in a karaoke bar, etc. And each time she opens an envelope, it seems that Gerry is just playing a happy little game with her, even though they live in two different worlds. Holly knows he's right there, she can feel his spectral presence, she even talks to him. Of course, he'd know if she cheated at the happy little game, so she doesn't. There are other Big Questions, though, and our Holly searches for Answers. Get a Job or Keep On Shopping? Fall in Love with A Handsome Man or Start An Exciting Career at a Fashion Magazine? Don't worry! The ending is happy! Sappy rehash of some very familiar plots. (Kirkus Reviews)

Cathy Kelly
'Wild humour and heartbreak tangled up in one great read.'

Customer Reviews

Not too bad
To be honest, because of all the hype I didn't expect to enjoy this. It is a shame that the book couldn't stand for itself rather than be sold on all the hype about who the author is related to, and how much her publisher paid to have her included in the Richard and Judy picks. Still, it wasn't too bad.

The story idea was intriguing but I would have liked to have seen what a more experienced author would have made of it as I thought that it was very obvious that a twenty-odd year old was writing it. It would have been much better for the author to have her character Holly a similar age rather than trying to write her as a thirty year old. (Most thirty year old's do not wear tiaras and call themselves Princess! Or incidentally have Daddy conveniently write them cheques if they run into money trouble)

However, this was a minor thing, as eventually you do get drawn into the lives of these characters, flat as some of them may be and in the end, I did really enjoy it. Essentially though, some of the better-known (and better written) books by Irish chicklit authors like Marian Keyes, Sheila o Flanagan or Melissa Hill will remain higher up on my must-read list.

But I suspect with time, this author will greatly improve and it will be her books, rather than her name that stand the test of time.

IF I COULD GIVE IT 10 STARS, I CERTAINLY WOULD!!
I took this book on holiday with me and found it extremely hard to put down. It follows the life of Holly, who is forced to deal with the loss of her much loved husband Gerry. It is an extremely moving book and had me in floods of tears more than once. Anyone who has ever lost a loved one will relate and understand the heartache that Holly endures throughout the book, while she struggles to get on with life. What makes this novel more amazing is that it is Cecelia Ahern's very first novel and all I can say is WOW!! I can't wait to purchase more of her books in the future, because her style and wit is extraordinary. If all that hasnt persuaded you then I dont know what will! BUY IT.

Overrated
Maybe I have high standards, but this book certainly didn't live up to my expectations. A brilliant concept, but you can't help wishing Marian Keyes had thought of it instead. Ahern's writing is the kind which makes you think, 'I could easily write books for a living'. Granted, it's her first novel, but there's no escaping the blandess. It's hard to sympathise with the poorly-developed characters, including Holly. There's nothing wrong with Ahern's imagination, just her writing.