PS, I Love You (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: disco diva, hot new drink, karaoke host, Cecelia Ahern, Club Diva, Holly Kennedy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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 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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Ahern, the mediagenic 22-year-old daughter of Ireland's prime minister, debuts with a sweet, sentimental tale of a young widow's trials and triumphs in the year after her husband's death. Soul mates Holly and Gerry married in their early 20s; when Gerry dies of brain cancer at 30, Holly is utterly bereft. But Gerry has a final gift: a series of letters, which Holly is to open on the first of each month from March to New Year's, and which will guide her on her journey from grief. Gerry correctly predicts that Holly will not have gone through his belongings by June, found a new job by September or considered falling in love again by December, but with his posthumous epistolary encouragement she does all those things. She also enters a karaoke contest, takes a beach vacation and dances at a holiday ball she'd always attended with Gerry. The months pass as close friends help prop Holly up; around her, a marriage falls apart, a couple gets engaged and a friend announces her pregnancy. Within her tight-knit family, Holly's youngest brother makes a revealing film of her birthday party, her elder brothers change places in her allegiance and her parents take in one stray grown child after another for stays short and long. Ahern's speed (she wrote the book in three months) and her youth do show-the wisdom in evidence owes much to Nicholas Sparks and Sophie Kinsella-and her prose is pedestrian. She boasts a natural storytelling talent, however, resulting in a compelling tale sparked by an unusual premise.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (December 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786890754
• ISBN-13: 978-0786890750
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (259 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #525,939 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars P.S., I liked this, June 13, 2004

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: PS, I Love You (Hardcover)

Cecilia Ahern makes a splash with "PS, I Love You," a surprisingly charming debut about grief, love, family and struggling to move on with life. While Ahern needs to polish up her writing, she has plenty of raw talent, and a good grasp on her quirky characters.

Holly and Gerry were the perfect couple. Not sickening perfect, but perfect for one another. And so when Gerry dies of a brain tumor, Holly feels utterly lost and depressed, staying in her apartment and deteriorating. Finally she emerges from her cocoon, but still isn't ready to reembrace life. Despite the efforts of her family and friends, she can't move on.

Then she receives a package from beyond the grave: the List. Gerry wrote it before his death, leaving her instructions to do things like buy a bedside lamp, sing karaoke, and ends every note with "PS, I love you." Holly obeys the List -- sometimes happily, sometimes reluctantly -- and her new experiences help her to remember the past, while looking to the future.

"PS I Love You" is not your typical chick-lit. Sure, it has most of the usual trappings -- a young woman out in the world, the loud'n'lovable gay confidante, the outspoken best friend, the eccentric family complete with pink-haired baby sister. But there's no gooey love story with some new Hot Guy Du Jour, nor does it avoid the darker, more depressing experiences.

Ahern's writing is the sort that will be excellent when she gets a bit more writing experience. It's almost painfully awkward in places, the sort of thing that normally gets smoothed over by editors. But she has plenty of talent -- she makes the settings and characters come alive. And she knows how to mix grieving and humor, without making the humor less funny or the grief less heart-tugging.

Holly herself is a likable character, very true to life and sympathetic. Her family seems a little too bizarre at times, but weirdly enough, we all knows jerks, freaks and lovables like this. Worse, we're related to some of them. And Gerry himself, despite being dead, is one of the more intriguing personalities in the book even if he only appears in Holly's memory.

Ahern needs to work on her sometimes-awkward writing style, but her humorous, melancholy slice of chick-lit is a sweet read, especially for anyone who has had to say goodbye, and "PS I Love You."

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Cute concept, horrible writing, February 14, 2008

By	Sabrina Kinyon (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: PS, I Love You (Hardcover)

I really wanted to like this book because I loved the concept and the movie looked cute. However, I couldn't get past the first chapter due to the horrible writing. I agree with other reviews, watch the movie or get it from the library, but don't spend your money. There are other authors out there that are MUCH better. Her concept is great, but she needs to take some creative writing classes!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars P.S. I Love This Book..., November 23, 2005

By	Erika Sorocco (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Holly and Gerry were the perfect married couple from day one. Always happy, always smiling, and always there for one another. The kind of couple that others envy. But at the age of thirty, Gerry is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, and soon passes away. Holly is heartbroken. However, months after Gerry's death, Holly receives a package of letters that Gerry left for her before his death, letters instructing her to perform various different tasks that will keep his memory alive. Now, with the help of her closest girlfriends, and a family who drives her crazy, Holly is embarking on a new life that's even greater than the one she was forced to leave in the dust.

There are those books that leave you feeling sad upon completion, and those that leave you with a happy feeling. Cecelia Ahern's P.S. I LOVE YOU is a book that leaves you feeling a mix of both. Her characters are very in-depth, and dimensional, and show various sides of their personalities throughout the novel. This is a story that will make you laugh, and cry along with the characters, and hope for the best outcome possible for them. Like reading about your best friend, P.S. I LOVE YOU features sub-stories that will appeal to both sexes, both young and old. A first-rate first novel that will keep you guessing from first page to last. NOTE: Keep the tissues close by.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper