With all the warmth and wit that fans have come to expect from Cecelia Ahern, this is a novel full of magic, heart, and surprising romance.

If You Could See Me Now

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Now in paperback: In this charming novel, internationally bestselling author Cecelia Ahern shows that sometimes not seeing is believing!

Readers and critics alike adore Cecelia Ahern for her lighthearted yet insightful stories about modern women and their often unusual situations. In If You Could See Me Now, she takes that theme a step further, offering us a heroine who is entirely believable, and the new man in her life who is, well, slightly less so.

Elizabeth Egan's life runs on order: Both her home and her emotions are arranged just so, with little room for spontaneity. It's how she counteracts the chaos of her family -- an alcoholic mother who left when she was young, an emotionally distant father, and a free-spirited sister, who seems to be following in their mother's footsteps, leaving her own six-year old son, Luke, in Elizabeth's care. When Ivan, Luke's mysterious new grown-up friend, enters the picture, Elizabeth doesn't know quite what to make of him. With his penchant for adventure and colorful take on things large and small, Ivan opens Elizabeth's eyes to a whole new way of living. But is it for real? Is Ivan for real?

If You Could See Me Now is a love story with heart -- and just a touch of magic.

Cecelia Ahern is the twenty-four-year-old daughter of Ireland's prime minister and the author of PS, I Love You and Love, Rosie. Foreign rights to her novels have been sold to more than forty countries. Film rights to If You Could See Me Now have been bought by Walt Disney Pictures and rights to PS, I Love You have been bought by Warner Bros. Ahern lives in Dublin, Ireland.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In her third novel, Ahern (P.S., I Love You and Love, Rosie) employs an imaginary best friend to breathe distinctiveness into an otherwise stereotypical Irish tale. Living in her own house in a small, posh Irish town, 35-year-old Elizabeth Egan is an uptight interior designer and adoptive mother to her six-year-old nephew, Luke, whose mother, Elizabeth's 23-year-old sister, Saoirse, prefers boozing to parenting. Saoirse's behavior reminds Elizabeth of a painful past-the alcoholic mother who abandoned the family, leaving Elizabeth to care for her baby sister and forgo her own childhood, and the emotionally distant, controlling father still waiting for his wife's return. Unlike the other women in her family, Elizabeth adheres to a fastidiously well-ordered existence-no mess, no complications, no love. But all that changes with the arrival of Ivan, a goofy and spontaneous man intent on infusing much-needed fun and tenderness into Elizabeth's frigid persona. The catch is no one can see this ageless man from the land of "Ekam Eveileb" save Elizabeth and her nephew. Through Ivan, Elizabeth becomes the woman she's always been too afraid to be. He helps her reclaim the childhood she never had and, most importantly, to forgive those who have let her down. Ahern tempers heartbreak with hope and playfulness in this uplifting, sentimental tale. (Jan.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Must you be able to see something for it to exist? This is the question that faces Ahern's (Rosie Dunne) heroine, uptight interior decorator Elizabeth Egan. Looking after her six-year-old nephew, Luke, has honed her skills as both a caretaker and a control freak, but her ordered life takes an unexpected turn with the appearance of Luke's new friend, Ivan, who happens to be invisible. Does Ivan really exist? Maybe, maybe not; but his effect on Elizabeth is real enough. She loosens up, learns how to have fun, and reconciles her troubled past. While Ahern's Irish fans are probably accustomed to magical creatures like fairies, leprechauns, and invisible friends, American readers may have trouble suspending disbelief long enough to find Ivan a convincing hero. Despite the choppy writing and distracting viewpoints, the story line is original and charming in a bizarre, chick-lit-meets-Harry-Potter kind of way. This novel by the daughter of Ireland's prime minister is recommended for large popular fiction collections. [The film rights to Ahern's PS I Love You (2004) were bought by Warner Bros.-Ed.]-Anika Fajardo, Coll. of St. Catherine Lib., St. Paul, MN Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A buttoned-up Irish woman finds her life transformed when she meets a soulful man who may not exist. Ahern (Love, Rosie, 2005, etc.) sets her third novel in a sleepy and picturesque Irish burg well-suited to magical happenings. Among its inhabitants is reluctant single parent Elizabeth Egan, who has few reasons to believe in magic. Abandoned by her "free spirit" mother at an early age, she was forced to take care of her much younger sister, Saoirse, with little help from her emotionally distant farmer dad. Saoirse (Gaelic for "freedom") grows up to become a wild and troubled teenager with a baby of her own. When she shows no interest in taking care of the child, Luke, Elizabeth adopts him. Realist-by-default Elizabeth has little patience when, at age 6, Luke starts playing with an invisible companion he calls Ivan. When Elizabeth actually starts seeing Ivan, she mistakenly believes he is the father of a local boy. Ivan, who considers himself a professional best friend helping youngsters in need, realizes that Elizabeth would benefit from his services as much as Luke would. He teaches her to be spontaneous and silly and helps her come to terms with her unhappy childhood. (Ivan also confronts certain ethical issues when he finds himself interested in Elizabeth in more than a professional capacity.) Is Ivan a figment of Elizabeth's sleep-deprived and caffeine-addled brain, or a tall, blue-eyed dream guy?Ahern's fairytale is at times insufferably whimsical, with a main character whose idea of fun is spinning around on chairs and speaking backwards. Film rights for a musical adaptation to Disney, with Hugh Jackman to star