Thursday, May 1, 2008

London is the Best City in America

London is the Best City in America

Lisa Dave

I’ll preface this review with a snippet of a review from amazon.com and I have to agree that this is a very 20 something /30ish type of book. I think it just solidifies the whole idea of the quaterlife crisis and the idea of how my generation runs around confused- looking for answers by wanting other’s to choose or by running away. I fully accept that I am part of that dynamic and the past few years of my life have been true testament.

Synopsis- Emmy is returning to her hometown to attend the wedding of her older brother three years after abruptly calling off her own engagement. Returning home for the first time since then Emmy is already dealing with a range of emotions and realities and is not prepared when her brother exhibits his own doubts- mainly another woman. Emmy forced to face her own ghost, tries to help her brother figure out his path.

So it should come as no surprise that I enjoyed this book for what I got from it: Thoughtful, insightful prose from an identifiable protagonist. Of course I don’t consider myself as off the deep end as Emmy ( others might disagree), but I do understand her circles of thoughts and her introspections were decidedly familiar. This was one of those books that I couldn’t put down, because I had to know what happened and when I did I had just as many unanswered questions as before. That whole idea felt describing like my life and the past few years- more questions than answers and so I was able to actually put this book down satisfied, which is more than I can say for a few books that have ended similarly. For some reason there was no need for answers and the ending was sufficient enough.

There were about two chapters which lost me- the pace of the novel slowed and I struggled to finish them after skipping ahead and forcing myself to turn back. Overall, I found the book rather enjoyable and fitting. Again- I’d point out that if you are outside the 20/early 30 range you probably won’t enjoy this one.

Interview with Author.

****1/2