Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9781401399610
ISBN: 1401399614
Label: Hyperion Books
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Hyperion Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 470
Publication Date: 2005-02
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Studio: Hyperion Books

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.
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 tumor. 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 character's 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

Customer Rating:
Summary: I Love This Book
Comment: P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

I read this book and I thought it was a good book to read. This is very detail, exciting, and loving story. I recommend this book to people of all ages who likes to read love stories. This book has almost everything a reader could want. I always wanted to know what was going to happen next in the story. Cecelia Ahern, the author of this book, wrote the story with a lot of detail that I could picture myself in the story as I read it. The book had happy moments and sad moments. Sometimes after reading the book I was sad and other times I would laugh because they were some very funny parts. "P.S. I Love You" was sad because one of the characters, Holly, loses her husband Gerry to a brain tumor. He dies at age thirty, but he left Holly a package of letters. After Gerry was gone Holly could feel his presence still with her. She would read the letters and she felt Gerry was at her side. I think Holly was brave because it was so difficult to recover from her husband's death. It was a "true love" novel. The message in the book for me was to start over when a loved one goes away and not be afraid of whom I am. I really enjoyed reading the book because when you start reading it, you don't want to stop. It catches your attention. I really recommend this book because it is very interesting and enjoyable to read.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: So Sad but uplifiting.
Comment: P.S. I Love You is a heartwrenchingly sad story, but it is also one of moving on, dealing with grief, and allowing one's self to cry. It is a story telling us that love continues, even through death. Our true loves never really leave us as long as we never forget them.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Heart Speaks and Romance Lives On...
Comment: A touching, heart-warming story of grief, its many stages and how the one you love the most can prepare you for life after they're gone.

Holly and Gerry were high school sweethearts, newly married and very much in love when tragedy strikes and Gerry is diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor. Holly is devastated and doesn't think she can go on until she discovers that Gerry left her a series of 10 envelopes to be opened monthly with instructions on how to go on with her life. Holly is not only faced with finding a life without her beloved husband, but also faces problems dealing with her friends, whose lives also must go on.

I really enjoyed the characters and the steady way that the plot builds. It was so endearing to see the ways in which Gerry's notes helped Holly to be brave and encouraged her to have fun, and to even go shopping!

I appreciated the "voice" that Ahern gives to Gerry - you realize just how much he loved his wife and although he knew their time together was going to be short, he wanted to infuse her with his total devotion and leave that remembrance even after he was gone.

This book reminded me of Anybody Out There? By Marian Keyes, but although they are both Irish-born, their writing styles are different and they tell a very different story based on a similar theme.

I'm looking forward to renting the movie, although I hear it's different than the book, I always find it interesting to see the way "Hollywood" represents a book on film. Cecelia Ahern is truly talented, and I will be reading more from this author.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A rare example of a movie being better than the book
Comment: While the premise of the story is good, the movie did a much better job of capturing the characters. Her writing style needs polish and she writes as a 22 year old pretending to know what it's like to be 30 and widowed. The characters have no depth and you find yourself saying over and over again "that wouldn't really happen". Phrases are used repetitively and dialog is weak. There were some charming moments, but overall it reads like a high school paper. The author needs to mature a little and get some life experience. Skip the book and rent the movie.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Amatuer Style, but Good Thoughts
Comment: The prelude to this story had such an amazing idea- such a wonderful thought! A young married- so in love- couple finds out the husband is dying and will be gone within months. We quickly learn how they met, how and why the fell in love... and then he dies. Within days of his funeral the wife receives a package- it is from her husband. Once per month over the course of one year, she consistently receives surprise packages or letters from her dead husband, helping her to cope iwth him missing and lists of things to do to get on with her life.
This could have been such an amazing story! The idea of a man planning this for her was so romantic!
But Cecelia Ahern disappointed me. I just could not connect with the main character. I didn't FEEL like I had missed out on a life and love so amazing. I didn't believe they were truly in love, nor did I enjoy most of the letters. If my husband had died untimely an dI had to wait month after month for a letter, I would hope to receive more than one line from him telling to go and buy a lamp, or a new dress. How about listing a great memory of us together? How about how much he loves my smile? How about describing our unborn children? How about explaining what our life together could have been like? You have to live through it to let it go sometimes.
I just wanted more. It had so much potential. The premise of the story was fantastic- it was just lacking that certain "something" that makes a story special. "PS I Love You" was a huge disappointment.
If you did happen to enjoy it, try "Catch & Release" on DVD. That movie I've seen 3 times and enjoyed it very much!

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