Joined in 2023 
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Trust me when I say this is a book that is an absolute must read of 2023! Thank you so much for the publisher and NetGalley for giving me advance access to one of the most beautiful, moving books I've ever read. I hope this one wins some awards that's for sure. It wasn’t like actually competing or anything like that,’ Cecelia says. ‘It was just for fitness. But my instructor is an MMA fighter who is amazing, six-foot-something massive man. So I love that – it’s just really good to get it all out.’ Lyrebird is Ahern's 14th novel in as many years. Since her debut P.S. I Love You was published, in 2004, she has led the market for romantic popular fiction, both in Ireland and abroad. Lyrebird will easily satisfy her fans, who will expect the development of an unlikely love affair and a traditional happy ending. What they may not expect is a meditation on the world through sound. Between the factual framing device of Pratt's book and the development of two characters who connect on a sonic, as well as an emotional plane, Ahern manages to turn a generic storyline into a much more sophisticated narrative, albeit one that refuses to transgress the boundaries of romantic cliche. Alice liegt mir mit ihrem außergewöhnlichen Leben und ihrer liebenswürdigen Art sehr am Herzen. Aber es hat eine Weile gedauert, bis ich die raffinierte Geschichte von Cecelia Ahern verstanden habe. Zuerst dachte ich: "Wovon um alles in der Welt redet sie?" Erst als ich zu 50-60 % mit dem Roman durch war, traf es mich! Dann war ich von dieser spezifischen Fähigkeit besessen und wollte unbedingt herausfinden, wie Alice ihr LEBEN verantworten wird. Ich genoss jeden Satz, jeden Handlungsstrang bis zum Ende. Sehr empfehlenswert! It was certainly overwhelming. The workload was immense from the beginning which was excellent training. However, being from Ireland and being surrounded by grounded Irish people, I knew, because I was told, that what was happening to me was not the norm. I knew that it was not going to be the case for every single book for the rest of my life and so I was embracing the moment and enjoying it as much as I possibly could. What makes your work so attractive to film-makers?
Der neueste Roman von Cecilia Ahern ist kein Wohlfühlbuch. Und trotzdem war ich ziemlich gefesselt von Alice' Geschichte. An mehreren Stellen hab ich mitgelitten mit ihr - schlussendlich aber hat Alice ihr Leben ziemlich gut gemeistert. Ein tapferes Mädchen und eine starke Frau. Und jeder neue Abschnitt in ihrem Leben hat sich dann ja auch meistens als Verbesserung herausgestellt. Once again from the very first chapter, as so often happens in Ahern’s books, you are drawn in from the very start, wanting to know more. The concept of seeing colours to represent emotions is genius, to have the main character be able to see and absorb these feelings and how this insight into others might not be a ‘gift’ is just captivating. On several occasions through the book you could relate to how you really don’t know what is going on with others around you, life seemingly perfect on the outside but possibly something that couldn’t be further from the truth. Like Eleanor Oliphant and Sally Diamond our protagonist Alice Kelly is different. Im discovering I have a love for damaged female protagonists, whether it's down to nature or nurture I love these girls.... Or maybe it's because I have raised a daughter on the spectrum and I see a little bit of her in all these special protagonists...it makes me want to fight the world for them and champion them!
I loved seeing how Alice learns to live with her gift. The book discusses everything from self-discovery to complicated family relationships, neglectful parents, and a love story. It looks like a challenging topic, but I enjoyed how it was executed within the story. The ending also was beautiful in that it speaks the summary of Alice’s life experiences through colors 🤌🏻 She does manage to live a life of her own, with the urging of her older brother, and moves away from the toxic environment that is her childhood home. I find other ways of getting things out there. I think I take rejection quite well. Of course it’s disappointing and you can be floored for a little bit but then I start to think, what’s the other way that I can do this? I have a bit of tunnel vision in that respect – what’s the other route I can take? That is very much part of my personality. Hence the thing about the forklift.’
However, this is a really good book. It's very easy reading. Good story, some lovely touches, very human. I thoroughly enjoyed it even though I wept quite a lot on and off all the way through and it observes human nature very well. There's some really funny bits in it too. The one thing I'm delighted by (and I have not read a Cecilia Ahern for many years) is that her writing has really matured and I don't get the sense she's trying to be Marian Keyes any longer. (I love Marian but there really is only one of her). As the novel opens, the film-making trio behind Mouth to Mouth productions are returning to the wilds of west Cork for a funeral. Tom Toolin, one of the twin brothers who featured in their debut documentary, has died. They want to pay their respects to the surviving brother, Joe, but director Bo is also keen to keep the camera rolling: who knows how Joe will cope with the loss of his twin, his sole companion for the past 40 years? Solomon, the soundman, who is also Bo’s boyfriend, thinks her approach is a bit crass but he pitches in anyway. “Sometimes the world needs people like Bo to push the boundaries,” he observes. It is how great art is made. Alice which is the main character She can see your feelings with colours so like blue is for feeling sad .I was very Captivated by Alice as a character herself self and really felt Sadness for her, As I can imagine it's pretty overwhelming Not just feeling your own emotions but everybody else is around you. But it also comes from places so maybe that she can get an image image in her head and she can't get that out and it can be massive overload of emotions. A gorgeous cover, alas the book did not live up to it. This was pretty poor and one for diehard Cecelia Ahern fans only. This was a lovely book. Alice sees colours in people from when she was 8, her mum and brothers sometimes struggle to understand her, as does Alice herself. In seeing colours in people, she knows their thoughts and emotions, which is often not pleasant, to the point where Alice wears sunglasses and gloves and a mask to protect herself from the bombardment she gets from them.This story is pretty fast pace and I think and I think the writing is just absolutely wonderful clearly wonderful Celia never disappoints me. It's definitely one of those stories which is unforgettable and I don't really want to give too much away so that people actually get to read it and enjoy it like I did I’m not interested in writing the same novel twice. I’m drawn to writing about challenging, transitional moments in people’s lives, and that theme never changes, but how I go about telling the story changes so very much I’m sure it sends my publishers’ heads in a spin. I’m often too quirky to be commercial and too commercial to be literary and while I’m comfortable with not fitting in, it’s never easy when it comes to knowing where to put me on a shelf. What projects are you working on? Normally it can take me maybe a week to two weeks to read a book, but not Cecelia's latest offering. I have only read one of her other books but like I said something about this drew me in. Wither that was the cover, the description or simply because its Cecelia. For those who don’t know, I am a huge Cecelia Ahern fan having read every book on release from P.S. I Love You, which still remains one of my favourite ever books. So it is safe to say that as soon as a new title from Cecelia is announced quite a lot of excitement follows which was accelerated further this time due to receiving an advanced readers copy of the upcoming 2023 release. and bad ways. Her initial aim is to protect herself from feeling what others feel as it’s too draining but she finds in time that emotion is what makes us human.
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