"To put it in the most basic terms," writes Byrne, "if someone is overweight, it came from thinking 'fat thoughts', whether that person was aware of it or not. A person cannot think 'thin thoughts' and be fat. It completely defies the law of attraction... Think perfect thoughts and the result must be perfect weight."

Detractors are appalled by the book's message, calling it 'the religion of wishful thinking'. They say it taps into a peculiarly American notion of 'prosperity consciousness' that came from 19th-century Christian Science, and that its message is very similar to the 1952 bestseller, The Power of Positive Thinking. Byrnes admits she came up with the idea for the book after she read The Science of Getting Rich, which was first published in 1910.

Others believe the book has the potential to do real harm. They point

‘By this logic, people who get cancer have brought it on themselves’

out that in the DVD a woman claims she has cured her breast cancer, without chemotherapy or radiation, by following the secret of The Secret - visualising herself well - and watching funny movies on television.

"It's a dangerous message, not just for people who might think they don't need to see a doctor for a disease," says Jerry Adler, who reviewed the book for Newsweek."But also psychologically for all the people who get cancer, which, by the logic of the law of attraction, they brought down on themselves."

One person who is convinced by the message of The Secret is Rhonda Byrne. Of course it works, she says: just look at how rich she has become. Also, she notes: "I now maintain my perfect weight of 116lb and can eat whatever I want."