P.S., it’s been 20 years….
Irish author, Cecelia Ahern started writing P.S. I Love You at only 21 years old, in 2002.
She had just graduated from college with a degree in Journalism and Media Studies and like many graduates found herself questioning her identity and direction.
This led Cecelia to turn to her love of writing as a form of release and P.S., I Love You was born.
Now if you haven’t read the book or watched the film P.S., I Love You follows the story of Holly who is adjusting to life after losing her husband Gerry.
However, Gerry is not ready to leave Holly just yet and leaves her a bundle of letters, one for each of the months after his death.
Through the heartfelt letters, he guides Holly into her new life without him, signing each letter ‘PS, I Love You’.
Published in January 2004, this year marks 20 years of PS I Love You, and to celebrate we have listed 5 of the most iconic moments from both the book and the film.
Holly Opens The First Letter
After collecting an envelope that was left in her mother’s house, Holly finds that Gerry is still with her. With a simple ‘My darling Holly’, in chapter five Cecelia has every reader in tears and putting themselves in Holly’s shoes.
Each letter consists of an instruction or task that Gerry wants Holly to carry out. The first task on the list is to buy a bedside lamp as in chapter two of the book, and at the beginning of the movie, Holly stubs her toe against the bedpost on her way back to bed after turning off the big light.
From Beyond The Grave
An iconic moment from the film is the scene where Holly is celebrating her 30th birthday with her friends and family and gets a surprise from Gerry.
A cake is delivered to Holly’s apartment with ‘Happy Birthday my love, love Gerry’ written on it in icing. Then Gerry’s best friend John finds a tape recorder with a note saying, ‘Play me’ stuck to the lid of the cake box. Holly quickly plays the tape only to hear Gerry’s voice.
He tells Holly that he has written letters for her with an instruction on each one that she must follow. The first instruction Gerry gives Holly in the film is to get dolled up and go on a girl’s night out to celebrate her birthday.
Galway Girl Scene
In the film, while on a trip to Ireland as instructed by Gerry in one of his letters, Holly and her best friends, Denise and Sharon find themselves in an Irish pub.
They watch as a man is playing the guitar and singing Galway Girl, sending Holly down memory lane. She remembers a night when Gerry sang the same song in a pub and came down from the stage to kiss her.
Girls and The City
In the book, Holly’s youngest brother Declan makes a documentary about Holly’s night out for her 30th birthday with her friends.
The girls are under the impression that the documentary is only for a college project and that no one will see, when in fact it gets aired on television for everyone to see.
We can’t help but laugh as were read about Holly, Denise, Sharon, and Ciara’s reactions to Declan’s documentary. The girls are humiliated and left in shock as everyone watches their night of drinking and partying.
The most iconic part of Girls Gone Wild has to be when Holly, with her crooked tiara, pretends to be the Princess of Finland to get into a nightclub, and it works!
Holly finds a job she loves
What’s more iconic than finding your passion? After a letter from Gerry asking her to find a job that she loves, Holly decides to shoot for the moon and find the perfect job.
Crossing FBI agent, hairdresser, and professional people spotter on her list Holly decides that she likes the sound of a ‘Hot-shot advertising businesswoman in control of life’.
After an array of interviews, Holly’s hard work finally pays off when she lands her hot shot job selling advertising space for a magazine in Dublin.
P.S. I Love You is an iconic book and an even more iconic movie that we will reread and rewatch time and time again!
Words by Grace Sweeney
