City of Girls: A Novel

Elizabeth Gilbert

Jun 2019 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

From the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and The Signature of All Things, a delicious novel of glamour, sex, and adventure, about a young woman discovering that you don't have to be a good girl to be a good person.

"A spellbinding novel about love, freedom, and finding your own happiness." - PopSugar

"Intimate and richly sensual, razzle-dazzle with a hint of danger." -USA Today

"Pairs well with a cocktail...or two." -TheSkimm

"Life is both fleeting and dangerous, and there is no point in denying yourself pleasure, or being anything other than what you are."

Beloved author Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love.

In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse. There Vivian is introduced to an entire cosmos of unconventional and charismatic characters, from the fun-chasing showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer, and no-nonsense stage manager. But when Vivian makes a personal mistake that results in professional scandal, it turns her new world upside down in ways that it will take her years to fully understand. Ultimately, though, it leads her to a new understanding of the kind of life she craves - and the kind of freedom it takes to pursue it. It will also lead to the love of her life, a love that stands out from all the rest.

Now eighty-nine years old and telling her story at last, Vivian recalls how the events of those years altered the course of her life - and the gusto and autonomy with which she approached it. "At some point in a woman's life, she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time," she muses. "After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is." Written with a powerful wisdom about human desire and connection, City of Girls is a love story like no other.

Ratings and reviews

I should confess at the start that I have an inconsistent relationship with author Elizabeth Gilbert. I thought EAT, PRAY, LOVE was vastly overrated. But I simply inhaled THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS. And now, I can wholeheartedly recommend CITY OF GIRLS. This novel begins with a letter. Written by an older Vivian Morris to a somewhat younger woman, Angela. It's an attempt to answer a question posed by the younger woman. Only it turns out that it's not an easy question to answer. And it takes the entire book to explain why. Vivian first must revisit her life, beginning in the 1940s. From her wealthy but emotionally remote family of origin to a brief but disastrous experience at Vassar College, and, then landing on the doorstep of her bohemian aunt living in New York City. There, Aunt Peg and her extremely efficient business partner, Olive, run a rundown theatre that puts on second rate plays to a not-very-discerning neighborhood audience. But NYC turns out to be revelation to 19 year old Vivian. Cavorting with glamorous showgirls, meetings legendary actors, and sampling the city's wild nightlife is almost too much for the previously sheltered Vivian to handle. She learns a lot about love and makes some big mistakes, all while putting her considerable sewing skills to good use at the theatre. I won't speak to her adventures or the impact of World War II. Nor how she ultimately answer's Angela's question -- since that would certainly spoil the read for you. But for me, the real value of this book is its exploration of love, in all its forms. Within family, between romantic partners, between siblings, and among good friends. We're not talking about the fantasy of love. The love Gilbert explores is all too human. The people are flawed. They often blunder and let each other down. But each one is loved anyway, for the whole person they are. Flaws and all. And, as we ultimately see, even those who aren't lucky enough to be born into loving families can create their own loving families -- out of the special people they meet throughout life. So, keep your eyes open.

I read this book over a weekend. It was fast paced and really good. I love books written in first person narrative. I connected to Vivian right from the start. Not that my life is anything at all like hers but i have had the same views and reactions as her. Just not as out spoken about them as she is in this story. If you're a girl, you have to read this!

It's a book that you walk away from because you don't want it to end. The story of vivian is one of excitement and heart grabbing moments when you wanna step in and just give her a hug. The changes through the years is depicted so very well through vivs eyes. It is well worth never wanting to let it go.

About the author

Elizabeth Gilbert is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Magic, Eat Pray Love, and several other internationally bestselling books of fiction and nonfiction. Gilbert began her career writing for Harper’s Bazaar, Spin, the New York Times Magazine, and GQ, and was a three-time finalist for the National Magazine Award. Her story collection Pilgrims was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award; The Last American Man was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The follow-up memoir Committed became an instant #1 New York Times bestseller. Her novel, The Signature of All Things, was named a Best Book of 2013 by the New York Times, O Magazine, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and the New Yorker. Gilbert’s short fiction has appeared in Esquire, Story, One Story, and the Paris Review. Her new novel, City of Girls, will be released June 2019.