If You Could See Me Now
by Cecelia Ahern
Harper Collins, HK$90
If You Could See Me Now demonstrates just how flexible a genre chick-lit can be. In Cecelia Ahern's third novel - film rights to which have been bought by Walt Disney - not only is the love interest someone improbable, he's also imaginary, but not in the ghostly or psychologically compromised way. Fantasy man Ivan appears first to Luke, the six-year-old son of protagonist Elizabeth Egan's sister. Elizabeth assumes a maternal role towards the child only because her sibling has no such instincts. Playing mother, running a design business and looking after an ailing father mean there's little to smile about. Until Ivan makes his presence felt and shows her how 'it's the extras that make life'. A whimsical book, If You Could See Me Now had mega-successful (ergo, extremely rich) Ahern joking that she would be able to look after her father, Bertie Ahern, when he retires. The author is apparently making more money at age 25 than her dad is earning as Ireland's prime minister. Which shows how far the imagination can take you.