London Is the Best City in America 
Three years ago, Emmy Everett made the painful decision to call off her engagement and leave New York City behind. Since then she has been hiding out in Rhode Island working at a bait and tackle shop and haphazardly shooting a documentary about fishermen's wives. July 4th weekend has rolled around again and Emmy is mustering up the courage to return home to New York (the site of her own failed romance) to celebrate her brother Josh's wedding.
En route to his bachelor party, Emmy is shocked when her typically resolute brother confesses that he is having serious doubts about getting married - and he may even be in love with another woman.
Emmy is determined to help her brother face up to this decision—the one she fled from herself. With less than twenty-four hours to go before the wedding, she takes Josh on a road trip to find this mystery woman. Along the way, Emmy embraces her own hard-earned lessons about romance, commitment and what happens when we refuse to let go of the past.
London is the Best City in America is a courageous, big-hearted portrait of love, loyalty, and heartbreak. Emmy is lively, wise and, ultimately, very brave as she tries to answer the universal question: how do we take that first step toward making our lives our own? BACKCOVER: “Incredibly deft, utterly satisfying…I love every character. A triumph of a first novel.”
—Melissa Bank, author of The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing and The Wonder Spot
“London is the Best City in America is a delicious comedy of manners and a smart examination of the heart and its desires. What a sparkling debut!”
—Susan Isaacs, author of Long Time No See
"With its suspenseful plot, endearing heroine and vivid prose, Laura Dave's London is the Best City in America is an immensely appealing novel. A sparkling debut."
—Margot Livesey, author of Eva Moves the Furniture
Reviews
Emily and her intimates became real for me. I wanted to know more about Josh and Elizabeth and Grace.
She didn't get far. A mile or two up the road is where she settled for the next 2 years of her life.
Now, Emmy has to go home to attend Josh's wedding. She is sister of the groom and maid of honour of the bride, Meryl. Emmy first introduces Josh to the reader as "My big brother. Best friend since birth. Childhood hero."
He confides in her on her first night back in her hometown of Scarsdale, NY that he's "not sure I'm doing the right thing. You know, getting married this weekend." This confession turns out to be much deeper than a case of cold feet. Josh is in love with another woman - Elizabeth - whom he takes Emmy to meet on the day before his wedding.
This is the journey the extremely talented Ms. Dave sends the reader on with the endearing character of Emmy about what love and family and loyalty all mean. A journey about going home where "you don't always know what you'll remember."
Beautifully written.
I was smitten.
I look forward to more from Ms.Dave.