PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

Completion Date: June 13, 2007
Pages: 470
Publication Year: 2004
Purchased in 2007

A novel about holding on, letting go, and learning to love again.

Now in paperback, the endearing novel that captured readers' hearts and introduced a fresh new voice in women's fiction — Cecelia Ahern.

Holly couldn't live without her husband Gerry, until the day she had to. They were the kind of young couple who could finish each other's sentences. When Gerry succumbs to a terminal illness and dies, 30-year-old Holly is set adrift, unable to pick up the pieces. But with the help of a series of letters her husband left her before he died and a little nudging from an eccentric assortment of family and friends, she learns to laugh, overcome her fears, and discover a world she never knew existed.

The kind of enchanting novel with cross-generational appeal that comes along once in a great while, PS, I Love You is a captivating love letter to the world!

Once in a while, I enter a chick-lit type book into my regular reading. I chose this one because it was on one of the lists for my "Books Bloggers Cannot Live Without" poll. I looked it up, and decided that if I ever saw it second-hand, I would pick it up.

What can I say about this book other than it was a cute read, but also very sad. I think, for me, the saddest moment of all in the book is near the end where the story is told from Gerry's point of view for just a moment. It was sad for Holly to lose her husband, but for some reason it was saddest moment when we saw Gerry and how he felt about leaving her. I mostly read this book because I thought the idea of him leaving her behind notes would make for a more touching novel. With these notes, Gerry helps his wife get her life back together and even leads to a better life than the one she had with him, just that he is now gone.

This novel also has the helpful friends that see her through what is happening to her. There is Sharon, who she grew up with, and Denise who she has been friends with for the last few years. They gang up on her to try and ensure that she tries harder to get by. Then, there is her family, it is one of those families were everyone is opposite and they are all trying to get by. Holly finds that during her mourning she comes to understand her family and friends better, but it takes her a while. Having never experienced it myself, I still believe that Ahern covers a grieving widow quite well. This book is also being made into a movie in the not so distant future.