City of Girls: A Novel
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. 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. Written with a powerful wisdom about human desire and connection, City of Girls is a love story like no other.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *City of Girls* offers a richly detailed look at postwar NYC and highlights women’s diverse choices in mid-20th century life. Many praise ...
Loved the characters! This was a look at NYC after the war. One of the points I took away was that even in the 30,40 & 50's there were women that didn't all want the same things. A book of individuals choosing different paths - due to choice or life's circumstances.
thenextgoodbook.com
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
466 pages
What’s it about?
This novel is set up as a letter to from Vivian (towards the end of her life) to a mystery woman named Angela. In the letter Vivian recounts the story of her life. She begins in 1941 as she arrives home to her parents after flunking out of Vassar college. It is soon decided that she will go to New York City and visit her Aunt Peg (a woman rarely seen by young Vivian). Thus her real education begins. Vivian recounts the ups and downs of her unusual life.
What did it make me think about?
What an interesting time period to be alive. So much has changed for women in the last 75 years that it is almost hard to contemplate.
Should I read it?
Not sure how to proceed with this one, as I may be one of the only people I know that did not like "Eat, Pray, Love"- by the same author. This book was also an easy read- I would put it in the category of light, beach books. Sometimes I felt like it had a forced, breezy tone that got old for me. And Vivian was just not all that likable for a good portion of the book- which for me personally is hard to overcome. It takes an exceptional author to make me like a book when I do not like the main character. I thought the first 350 pages were okay, but I really liked the last 100 pages (surprise, surprise this coincides with me finding Vivian more compelling). So...that is a lot to read to get to a good 100 pages.
Quote-
"The reason I don't remember any particular details about Bernadette is because I didn't pay much attention to maids back then. I was so very accustomed to them, you see. They were nearly invisible to me. I just expected to be served. And why was that? Why was I so presumptuous and callow?
Because I was rich."
If you liked this try-
The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye
The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel
Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
White Houses by Amy Bloom
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
466 pages
What’s it about?
This novel is set up as a letter to from Vivian (towards the end of her life) to a mystery woman named Angela. In the letter Vivian recounts the story of her life. She begins in 1941 as she arrives home to her parents after flunking out of Vassar college. It is soon decided that she will go to New York City and visit her Aunt Peg (a woman rarely seen by young Vivian). Thus her real education begins. Vivian recounts the ups and downs of her unusual life.
What did it make me think about?
What an interesting time period to be alive. So much has changed for women in the last 75 years that it is almost hard to contemplate.
Should I read it?
Not sure how to proceed with this one, as I may be one of the only people I know that did not like "Eat, Pray, Love"- by the same author. This book was also an easy read- I would put it in the category of light, beach books. Sometimes I felt like it had a forced, breezy tone that got old for me. And Vivian was just not all that likable for a good portion of the book- which for me personally is hard to overcome. It takes an exceptional author to make me like a book when I do not like the main character. I thought the first 350 pages were okay, but I really liked the last 100 pages (surprise, surprise this coincides with me finding Vivian more compelling). So...that is a lot to read to get to a good 100 pages.
Quote-
"The reason I don't remember any particular details about Bernadette is because I didn't pay much attention to maids back then. I was so very accustomed to them, you see. They were nearly invisible to me. I just expected to be served. And why was that? Why was I so presumptuous and callow?
Because I was rich."
If you liked this try-
The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye
The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel
Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
White Houses by Amy Bloom
Good book! Characters were well developed. The book and storyline reminded me of the many cultural changes we have seen in the US since WWII. I appreciate this writers talent and perspectives.
DNF @ pg 294 (Chapter 22)
This book was trying really, really hard to be something, but there was just no...substance to it, is the only way I can think to describe it. Fluff masquerading as something important.
I read through to the big event and then just got a summary from my fellow book club goers and I don't think I missed much by not finishing.
This book was trying really, really hard to be something, but there was just no...substance to it, is the only way I can think to describe it. Fluff masquerading as something important.
I read through to the big event and then just got a summary from my fellow book club goers and I don't think I missed much by not finishing.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.