Anniversaries and a Book Review

Today’s my Blogiversary.  A year ago I was on the phone with my oldest sister and our brother as I debated what to call my blog.  I hadn’t had a television since 1992, and blog reading had become my main source of entertainment.  I wanted to join the fun, and I’ve enjoyed the blog community, so thanks to all my blogland compatriots!

This weekend I had another anniversary, one that I got the mean reds over.  I’m not going to dwell on it any more.  Crazy Aunt Purl wrote a post that suits my mood.  Yay for the sisterhood.

I read the greater part of Laura Dave’s London is the Best City in America while lazing about in bed with a cup of coffee this morning.  As a graduate student, I’m a fussy reader.  I don’t have a lot of time to read purely for pleasure.  I need to multi-task in my reading, so most of my reading is either dry pedagogy or well-established (and fine) writers from whom I expect to learn something about my craft.

I met Laura at the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference.  She was a load of fun, so I was excited to hear her read from her novel.  I wasn’t disappointed by the reading.  The Prologue is told in third person, and then the book shifts to a first-person, present action.  Laura was articulate when asked about that decision, as well as when she spoke about anything to do with her novel (ok, about anything).  Of course I had to buy the book and ask her to autograph it for me.

But this isn’t a review of my hanging out with Laura; it’s a review of her first novel.  So we’ve got a point of view shift that makes sense.  We’ve got a situation of Emmy returning home to Scarsdale for her brother’s wedding a few years after she called off her own.  We’ve got a story of a young woman trying to figure out, through her brother’s situation, what her own means.  Best of all, we’ve got a mother who in a few sentences provides a lifetime of wisdom. 

Laura’s characters are well developed.  There are a lot of characters (it’s a novel, after all), but never once did I feel confused about which guy was on the page–each of them was distinct.  Emmy as a narrator kept me aware of everything she understood about the men and about her own feelings for them. 

I trusted Emmy as a narrator.  She’s mixed up, but she’s clear in her narration, which makes the mixed up-edness even better.  I want to hang out with Emmy, really with all the characters.

So, my short little review is really in praise of character.  The story is compelling–I want to know what choices everyone will make.  There’s a strong sense of place (I know Scarsdale, and it’s obvious that Laura does as well.), as well as believable dialog. 

Most of all, though, it’s the wisdom that makes me love this book.  Need a little wisdom?  Then I recommend it to you.  Just want a good read?  You’ll get that, too, so you may as well embrace the wisdom.