"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 Girlsexplores 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 ninety-five 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 Girlsis a love story like no other.
My Review:
Rating: 3.75/5 stars.
I would like to thank Tandem Collective UK, Bloomsbury Publishing, and Elizabeth Gilbert for gifting me a copy of this book. I've loved being apart of the read along even if it took me a lot longer than expected (5 weeks to be exact).
I have so much to say about this book that it's hard to know where to start. It took me along time and many pages to finally enjoy this book. The first 200 pages did not grab my attention and I really couldn't get into the book. I was bored to be very honest. I'd say if you can't wait 200 pages into a book for it to start to become enjoyable then I don't recommend this book. If I hadn't had this problem with the beginning of the book then I would have rated it a lot higher.
I loved that this book was set in New York as it's one of my favourite places I've visited. To be able to experience New York from the 40's to the 70's was like a dream! I ended up loving the main character, Vivian Morris, who is such a quirky and vibrant character. I was glad to see so much historical accuracy. This book is full of women with such different personalities and each represent something unique. I also love how it is set in a theatre for the majority of the book. It's not a book that is pushy with how feministic it is but it's a nice undertone throughout the book. This book is all about growth. We literally see Vivian grow. Make mistakes and learn from then. I love how openly sex is spoken about in this book. Vivian enjoyed sex and wasn't shy about it.
The fact that this book is actually a letter written by a very old Vivian is very interesting because we get her opinion on her younger self which makes it very funny and enjoyable to read. One thing I would say is that I wouldn't be please to receive a 500+ pages letter from a woman I barely knew. Just saying! I felt like maybe that this book could have been cut in half in terms of what the letter was supposed to be about because I can't see why someone would need your life story just to understand a relationship you have with their Dad. Saying this I loved her life story and seeing her age.
A brilliant historical fiction based in New York throughout the 40's to 70's.
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