The majority of my latest book, Found, takes place during the summer in New York City, although the book ends in London. Which, got me thinking: Which city is the best one to spend your summer in? I pitched New York and London against each other to find out.

Category: History

The City of London is two thousand years old, whilst the first European to set foot in New York arrived in 1524 (the city wasn’t officially known as New York until 1664 when it was ceded to England from the Dutch). It wasn’t until the mid-1800s that places like Central Park, St Patrick’s Cathedral and the Museum of Natural History sprung up, whilst in London we’ve had a church on the site of St Paul’s Cathedral since 604 (today’s St Paul’s was consecrated in 1697), and The Guildhall has been around since 1411.

Winner: London. New York can’t compete with that amount of history.

Category: Weather

Let’s face it, a British summer typically involves permanently grey skies and drizzle. On the rare days that the temperature does manage to get above 20°c, Londoners can be found making the most of it. Over in New York, the weather is fierce in a different way. The city is stifling and the sun blazes down – when it rains though, it pours!

Winner: New York City. Summers should be hot, even if a NYC summer is sometimes unbearably hot. 

Category: Sport

Baseball, NFL American football and WWE events all take place this summer in New York, as well as the US Tennis Open Championships. Over in London, Wimbledon is over, though the football season is well under way after the disappointment of Euro 2016. England will also be playing Pakistan at Lord’s (cricket).

Winner: New York City. Take me to a ball game sounds much more delightful than the footie!

Category: Concerts

Rudimental, Ryan Adams and the Barenaked Ladies all played in New York’s Central Park this summer, whilst Take That, Stevie Wonder and Florence and the Machine played in London’s Hyde Park.

Winner: London! Stevie smashed it 0ut of the park.

Category: Getting away

OK, spending a summer in the city is all well and good, but sometimes it’s nice to escape to the beach. Close to London you have coastal towns such as Brighton, Margate and Eastbourne, whilst the Hamptons and the Jersey shoreline are close to NYC. British seaside towns can be quaint, but there’s an air of refinement in the Hamptons which you just don’t get in Blighty. Plus, the weather’s better. 

Winner: New York wins hands down. The Hamptons versus Hampshire’s Southampton? No contest!

Overall winner: New York City! A good job really since that’s where Arielle is spending her summer. You can find out what she gets up to in the Big Apple in Found – out now.

Would you prefer to spend your summer in London or New York?

To celebrate the publication of Found, I’m running a giveaway. Prizes are an Amazon voucher, paperback copies of B-Side and Found, plus two handmade necklaces from Vaux Street. The giveaway ends on September 1st.