Kay's Bookshelf

I added this book to my list of planned-to-be-read books more than a year ago, since first hearing about it, because the topic seemed new to me and full of potential. A husband that was so in love with his wife that he wrote her letters for the future, so that a small part of him could be around her then. For some reason I expected each letter to be long, I expected him to explore previously unseen sides of him each time, in order to… I don’t know, make him harder and harder to miss, make the love they had seem even more precious. But. It is only now, after reading the book, that I realize this couldn’t have been. First of all, because there are no “previously unseen sides” in a couple like that. Also, had the letters been like I hoped they were, long and full of promise, it would have done a world of harm to Holly, as she had enough trouble coping as it was and she didn’t need any extra reminders of what could have been and now could never be. I very much admire the author for the way she chose the letters from Gerry to be (although I, as a reader, always wanted more, more, more :) ).

Another thing that I have liked was the way the author has written the relationships between characters: they seem real, and I felt for Holly’s pain of her loss all throughout the book. There’s more to the book, relation-wise, than this, as Holly is anything but an island: she has four siblings, a mother and father, friends, work colleagues, casual acquaintances and so on. I watched her struggle with the said relationships, trouble to form them, trouble to keep them when worse came to worse, and I was glad to find them fairly well written (at least for a chick lit book, of course).

There are plenty of characters in the book, and, while none of them are perfect, all of them were likable with one notable exception. Unfortunately, I really couldn’t like Holly herself (all the more reasons why I thought the author has done a great job with portraying her emotions, making me care for them and their effect on Holly although I didn’t like her). Holly celebrates her thirtieth birthday somewhere at the beginning of the book, and yet she acts mostly like a teenager (including a most annoying habit to call things “stupid” at times). The most fun she knows how to have is getting drunk in a pub (with friends, of course, but she has definitely spent too much of the book being drunk for my personal taste). I may be too uptight but really, her work ethic was dubious too (“Holly would daydream the majority of the day, make personal phone calls, especially abroad, because she didn’t have to pay the bill, and would be first in queue to collect her monthly paycheck, which was usually spent within two weeks.“). While I get she didn’t like her job and so on, I kinda have a problem with her being so unreliable for her employers (but then perhaps everyone does that and I live in a world of my own). Oh, and she cannot even spell!! How am I supposed to identify with that???

(Well, to be completely honest with the author, Ms. Ahern was 21 when she wrote the book so understandably enough she made Holly have the ideal life for a girl that age, forgetting or ignoring the fact that Holly is supposed to be a whole decade older and presumably more mature (the kind of maturity that was nowhere in Ms. Ahern’s sight at her tender age). I can of course understand that but I still didn’t like Holly at all.)

Gerry on the other hand is a whole other matter. While I admit that we see him very little and only in situations meant to emphasize his good side, I really liked him nevertheless (at least all his letters are spelled just fine). As for the rest of the cast, the author has definitely done a good job with them, as they are multifaceted enough and at times a joy to discover — although some changes in them were somewhat forced (I am thinking here about Richard, one of Holly’s brothers, who became almost a different person mid-book).

A quote I very much liked:

Growing older became something he wanted desperately to accomplish, rather than merely a dreaded inevitability. How presumptuous they both had been never to consider growing old as an achievement and a challenge. Aging was something they’d both wanted so much to avoid.

As a final mention, I for one have never been through what Holly’s been through (thank God!), but I’ve seen it mentioned among young widows that the year the book spans is quite unrealistic, way too short a time for Holly’s heart to heal as much as it did. I can understand the need for the book to take a shorter while rather than longer (as no one would write letters for the next I don’t know how many years), and also I think that the ending is a bit ambiguous with respect to the exact amount of healing Holly has managed: show spoiler

What I liked most: I know I have already blabbed on and on about the relationships between the characters, but bear with me a bit more: my favorite part of the book was the light banter all of them shared throughout the book. Everyone has a nice sense of humor, they tease each other now and then, and they actually manage to be funny without looking like they’re trying to hard — unlike other books I read *coughWitchlingcough*

The ending was bound to appeal to me too: show spoiler

What I liked least: Out of curiosity I have seen the P.S. I Love You movie prior to reading the book. While the two have nothing in common other than some character names and the central plot (Gerry, an Irish guy, married Holly, and then he died, but not before writing her some letters), I have nevertheless the main protagonists’ physical appearance stuck in my head as belonging to them. Now, I like Gerard Butler and he did a decent job as Gerry (especially as we don’t very much see the Gerry in the book, so while I had an idea he was younger than Mr. Butler looked in the movie I didn’t much care). However Hilary Swank really and truly ruined (what was left of) Holly for me. While I have nothing against Ms. Swank herself, I kept imagining Holly looking as her, and then it felt wrong, because in the book Holly is a bit shorter and blonder and a lot more vulnerable than Ms. Swank portrayed her in the movie. But, of course, serves me right for watching the movie first :)

Recommend it to? Anyone in the mood for a chick lit story a bit more gloomy than usual. It’s a light read though and as fun as can be with the said topic.


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