PS, I Love You

It's been a long time ever since I read a book that made me break out in tears and literally made me weep.

PS, I Love You, a book by Cecilia Ahern made me do just that. I started reading it yesterday while I was at the salon getting a pedicure and I continued reading it last night and finished it this morning (I'm a speedreader. Can finish a 450 paged book in less than four hours).

When I first saw this book at Powerbooks, I had second thoughts of buying it. I mean hey, who wants to read a book about a young widow trying to get on with her life? But it was sensitively written and full of warm insights about love and life, that it made me want to recommend it to any friend or relative who recently lost a loved one.

I admit, there are some parts wherein you just want to whack Holly (that's the widow) on the head, for not wanting to get her old life back, but I guess it's easier said than done for most people. You'll never really know how it feels until you're there.

Another thing that I liked about this book is the setting. All the pop fiction that I've been reading are set either in the US, or in England. This is the first time that I read something where the lead character lives in Ireland. I could hear the way they speak and there are sometimes, that I think I could speak with their accent as well. At first, I was thinking whether it was set in Australia or England, but it was later on that they made it clear that it's in Ireland (I assume it's Ireland since Dublin is there, right?).

I remember that there's a Sweet Dreams book that I read in high school with the exact title and almost the same premise. In that Sweet Dreams novel, the guy is still alive and struggling with a terminal illness. I remembered crying buckets after reading it since it's my first romance teenybopper book and it had to be a sad one.

If you want a good laugh, and a good cry, go read this book (my gosh. I just read the bio of the author. She's freaking 22 years old AND the daughter of Ireland's prime minister....ooookkkk).


Here's the book's summary found on the back cover. They could have not said it any better:

Holly and Gerry are the kind of married couple that others envy. Then, at the age of 30, Gerry is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Holly doesn't know ho wshell go on without him, and in truth, she doesn't want to. But Gerry has other plans for Holly. Months after Gerry's death, Holly receives a package of letters that he's left for her, instructing her to perform a series of unexpected tasks. With the help of the letters--and her fun, quick-witted girlfriends and a raucously endearing family that smothers, loves, and drives her crazy--Holly wobbles, weaves, and jokes her way toward a new life, even larger than the one that she'd been forced to leave behind. PS, I Love You is a tender, funny, unexpectedly romantic novel that readers will treasure in their hearts and minds long after closing the pages.