Published: February 2004 by Hyperion
Source: bought this one at Half-Price Books
Publisher's Summary:
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.
My Thoughts:
This one is so not in my wheelhouse but I liked the movie so I figured I'd give it a chance. Turns out the movie takes all that is best in the book then filled it out to make a better emotional connection. The book spends a lot of time introducing readers to Holly's family and friends and all of their baggage, pulling the focus away from Holly and how she deals with the grief of losing Gerry.
After I was well into the book, I realized that Ahern was only twenty-one when she wrote P. S. I Love You, far too young to truly understand what it might feel like to lose the love of your life and it showed. She was much more in her element when she wrote about Holly and her friends' partying. So let's just say I raced through this one, not because I couldn't put it down but because I wanted to finish it as quickly as I could. I had to finish it - it's one of the books on my TBR Pile Challenge list. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure I never would have. Sometimes reading out of your wheelhouse is a good thing..sometimes it's not.
Eh I think I'll pass on this one. It's a bit out of my wheelhouse as well but I know a lot of people really loved the movie. Sounds like this is one of the few cases when the book isn't better!
ReplyDeleteLove the movie, not sure I would like the book though. By the way, my favorite version of the song is from Kay Starr.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad this book was missing the strong emotional connection the movie has. That's really what made the movie so great, I think.
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