Ps, I Love You

Irish American

An amiable page-turner about love, loss and recovery.

Boston Globe

Four and a half hankies out of five.
— (Diane White)

Elle Girl

This book is a celebration of friendship and family, and in the end left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling.
—(Nadia Lachance)

Bookpage

Poignant and comical, introspective and farcical.

Booklist

A charming, heartfelt debut!

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. (Feb. 3) Forecast: Ahern-who's young, gorgeous and rich (thanks in part to a huge advance and rights sales to over a dozen countries)-should prove a huge draw on her eight-city author tour, and Hyperion is backing her with a $250,000 marketing budget. Warner Bros. and Wendy Finerman (a producer of Forrest Gump) have signed on for the movie version of this screen-friendly tale (the epilogue even boasts a meet-cute). The novel's curiosity factor will be high and, smartly priced at $21.95, it has an excellent chance of hitting national bestseller lists. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

From The Critics

"I love the fresh young voice of Holly and her adventures into a new life after the loss of her husband. She certainly is spunky -- and her moods carried me through the book on a perfect pitch!" (Roberta Rubin, The Book Stall)

Roberta Rubin

"I love the fresh young voice of Holly and her adventures into a new life after the loss of her husband. She certainly is spunky -- and her moods carried me through the book on a perfect pitch!"
—The Book Stall

Kirkus Reviews

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 FashionMagazine? Don't worry! The ending is happy! Sappy rehash of some very familiar plots. $250,000 ad/promo; film rights to Warner Bros.