Novel by Taoiseach's daughter sells strongly

Cecelia Ahern's debut novel, P.S. I Love You, is expected to soar straight to the top of the booksellers' charts after its first week on sale.

Bookstores around the country say the 22-year-old's novel is selling strongly, despite what is traditionally a sluggish time of year for book sales.

Ms Claire Boyle, books manager at Eason's O'Connell Street branch, said high levels of publicity were helping the book to "fly off the shelves". "We have around 1,000 copies here and we've sold hundreds so far. It's all women buying it, they seem to be the ones gathering around looking at it. The promotion table has already been filled out a few times."

Ms Ahern is due to appear at a book-signing session at Eason's on O'Connell Street at 12.30 p.m. today. Hundreds of people are expected to attend.

Waterstones said the "chick-lit" genre was doing particularly well and the chainstore was recording strong sales in outlets right across Ireland and Britain.

"It's getting a lot of publicity and is being compared to Bridget Jones's Diary. The sales are very strong, especially in Ireland and the south of England," said Waterstones' marketing manager for Ireland, Ms Larissa Procktor. "Hopefully it will prove to be a spark in what is otherwise a normally quiet time of year for book sales."

Mr John McEvoy of the Crannóg Bookshop, Church Street, Cavan, said the book had been helped by the lack of other major publications at this time of year. "There aren't many new publications at this time of year, so it's a good marketing strategy. It's been selling very well so far, but it's difficult to know whether it will really take off and keep selling into the summer," he said.

"It's not a Harry Potter or a Roy Keane, but it's early days yet. The reviews have been mixed so far, so we'll see."

However, the first-time novelist's book hasn't been causing a stir everywhere. Kenny's bookshop in Galway received its supplies of P.S. I Love You on Thursday but it had not sold any copies by yesterday evening.

"She's got a prominent position in the shop, but it's too early to know how it will sell . . . It might also be that it isn't the type of book that people would come here to find," a spokesman said.