After reading my own book for the umpteenth time and trying not to let it lead me to the destination of clinical depression, it was utterly wonderful to read a novel with simple, clear prose that dealt with love and family its warmth and wisdom were just what I needed. I was all of a flutter after reading the first of Dave’s novels – London is the Best City in America – as it had truly felt like a breath of fresh air possibly because I was doing the copy-edits for my own novel at the time, a novel that happened to be eversoslightly gut-wrenching literary fiction dealing with such delights as genocide and mental illness, all wrapped up in a very intense baroque style.

The reader part of me can’t wait until one of Laura Dave’s novels hits the big screen, because I am a massive fan of her work. The writer part of me is naturally green with envy. This writing sells by the bucket load even the film rights to Laura Dave’s books sell, and to major studios. Laura Dave is one of those writers blessed with a style of writing that is both intelligent and wildly commercial. When Nick returns, wanting a second chance, Annie’s stuck: truly torn between her husband and the man she may have been meant to marry. And Annie finds herself in a small Massachusetts town - completely unmoored and wondering if she’s picked a life on the rebound.

Reeling from Nick’s exit, Annie stumbles into her neighborhood bar and finds Griffin, a down to earth chef who seems to be everything she didn’t know she wanted. Until, out of nowhere, Nick announces that he’s reconnected with a woman from his past and he’s moving out. Her life finally feels like it is falling into place. Her longtime boyfriend, Nick, is on the verge of becoming a successful film director, her travel column is nationally syndicated, and they’ve got a great dog. There have been four books this summer that have struck me as particularly impressive: a crime thriller ( Cold Justice) a zombie/regency romance mash-up (to be reviewed here soon) the true story of a woman who loses her husband whilst five months’ pregnant ( Signs of Life, reviewed here), and The First Husband, which I’m going to talk about today.Īnnie Adams thinks she has it all. As soon as one book ends, leaving me admiring its style and pizazz, I begin another that takes my breath away. Every now and then in my reading life there are a few happy months where I find myself on a run of exceptional books.

The first husband a novel laura dave