Thirty-four-year-old Sandy Shortt has made it her life's ambition to search for all the missing things in life. It started with the disappearance of her class mate Jenny-May, back when they were both 10. Since then it has become an obsession — from the single sock that comes out of the dryer, missing its mate, to the people who leave for work one morning never to return to their loved ones. Sandy's determination to know where everything is grows and leads to a life dedicated to searching, but not often enough, finding. As an adult, Sandy's job is to find missing people. She knows all the missing intimately — names, faces, likes and dislikes, all recorded in the files she keeps. Sandy's life is a mass of contradictions however, from her name — she's neither sandy, nor short — to her life's work. In fact, all this searching for the things and people that aren't in her life leads her to become blind to those that are in it. That is, until she stumbles across a world where all the missing people go. Here, she is forced to face up to all that has gone missing in her life, and for the first time that includes facing herself.

"Ahern tells the fantastical story of Sandy Shortt, a smalltown Irish girl who, at 10 years old, becomes obsessed with finding lost things after a neighborhood girl disappears. Sandy's parents fret for years about her fixation, eventually finding her help in the form of hunky high school psychologist Gregory Burton. He's not much older than Sandy, and soon enough they're both smitten, though neither moves to pursue a romantic relationship until later, after Sandy graduates and moves to Dublin, where she tracks missing persons for a living. Gregory follows and they start and stall through an awkward courtship that's cut short when Sandy, while on a jog, gets lost and winds up in a strange parallel universe, home to the people and things that have gone missing from the regular world. What happens to Sandy there, and to those she left behind, will determine not only her future but Gregory's as well. Ahern jumps around in time and space, which adds as much confusion as suspense, but the underlying message about cherishing what you have comes through loudly by the end. That a film adaptation of Ahern's P.S., I Love You is scheduled for release in late December can't hurt sales potential." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"A positively magical novel, Ahern's latest sparkles with wit, compelling characters, and a truly clever premise." Booklist (Starred Review)

"With no mention of shoes or fashion and very little about Sandy's romantic relationship, this book may disappoint readers expecting typical chick-lit fare, but Ahern fans will find it a fascinating and pleasant read." Anika Fajardo, Library Journal

Since she was 10 years old, Sandy Shortt has been obsessed with finding things. Now grown, Sandy's obsession has become a calling, in this romance t hat explores the meaning of loss and love — Ahern's most satisfying and entrancing novel yet.

Since the age of 10, Sandy Shortt has been obsessed with finding things. Now grown, Sandy's obsession has become a calling, in this romance that explores the meaning of loss and love.

People disappear every day, some because they choose to leave their old lives behind, and some for more unpleasant reasons. Things, too, disappear: mittens and cell phones, wallets and luggage. In every case, someone is left behind; someone is left to wonder what happened. Ever since her classmate Jenny-May vanished when they were 10 years old, Sandy Shortt has been obsessed with finding things. Now grown, Sandy's obsession has become a calling, with her own agency devoted to locating missing persons. But with every failed case, Sandy is plagued with questions: Where do missing people go? Are they alive or dead? Did they intend to disappear, or did they suffer some cruel fate? As these questions threaten to consume her, Sandy suddenly finds that she, herself, has disappeared, and that she has found all the answers she's always searched for in a magical place where all lost things and people go. A romance that explores the meaning of loss and love, There's No Place Like Here is Cecelia Ahern's most satisfying, most inspired, most entrancing novel yet.

Cecelia Ahern, author of the international bestsellers PS, I Love You, Love, Rosie, and If You Could See Me Now, is the daughter of Ireland's prime minister. Ahern's books are published in 46 countries and collectively have sold over 6 million copies worldwide. A movie based on her first novel, PS, I Love You, was released in December 2007. She is also the co-creator, along with screenwriter Don Todd, of the ABC sitcom Samantha Who?, which premiered on ABC stations in October 2007. Cecelia has just completed her fifth novel.