Going in cold, other than with the reassurances of Bookstagram that this was a book worth reading, I began reading City of Girls on the 2nd of July.
A whirlwind 3 days later and I turned the last page, knowing what I had read had been something truly special.
Welcome to my review of City of Girls.
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Date: 4th June 2019
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Format: I read this as an ebook and a hardcover book borrowed from the library (466 pages).
Blurb:
It is the summer of 1940. Nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris arrives in New York with her suitcase and sewing machine, exiled by her despairing parents. Although her quicksilver talents with a needle and commitment to mastering the perfect hair roll have been deemed insufficient for her to pass into her sophomore year of Vassar, she soon finds gainful employment as the self-appointed seamstress at the Lily Playhouse, her unconventional Aunt Peg’s charmingly disreputable Manhattan revue theatre. There, Vivian quickly becomes the toast of the showgirls, transforming the trash and tinsel only fit for the cheap seats into creations for goddesses.
Exile in New York is no exile at all: here in this strange wartime city of girls, Vivian and her girlfriends mean to drink the heady highball of life itself to the last drop. And when the legendary English actress Edna Watson comes to the Lily to star in the company’s most ambitious show ever, Vivian is entranced by the magic that follows in her wake. But there are hard lessons to be learned, and bitterly regrettable mistakes to be made. Vivian learns that to live the life she wants, she must live many lives, ceaselessly and ingeniously making them new.
“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.”
And so Vivan sets forth her story, and that of the women around her – women who have lived as they truly are, out of step with a century that could never quite keep up with them.
My (no spoiler) thoughts…
New York, New York. Manhattan in the 1940s and all the glamour and texture of that world spills off the page. New York is a main character in itself, and you are expertly taken back in time, with all the details you would need to build a vivid picture for yourself. Enter: The Lily Playhouse. And we are thrust into this new world along with Vivian, a young and naive girl finding her feet in the big city.
You can’t help but feel a connection to Vivian, despite all her self-declared privilege. This is helped by the book opening in 2010, a reply to a letter: the daughter of the man who would change everything for her. The book is written retrospectively as if one long letter to the daughter, Angela, as an explanation for the question.
“Vivian,” Angela wrote, “given that my mother has passed away, I wonder if you might now feel comfortable telling me what you were to my father?”
She goes right back to the beginning, describing her colourful entry into New York and the Lily Playhouse. Vivian moves in with her Aunt Peg above the theatre, along with a host of characters including the playwright, musicians, and showgirls. She finds herself something to do: costumes. A theme that would continue throughout the book.
This is a book of Vivian’s life story. The ups and downs of her time in New York (and briefly away from it) and how she came to end up where she does. There are some major hiccups along the way, and it gets quite intense at times. But the core feeling of wonder and fun remains steadfast throughout.
Of course, during the 1940s World War Two happens.
We see how this, at first, doesn’t register to Vivian at all. She is in her own little bubble and had no idea what was to come, and who she was to lose. The sense of impending doom was an interesting counterbalance to the fun and frivolity of the theatre world. When America finally joins the war, her life is turned upside down once again. And it is really interesting to hear of the changes, both personal and larger, that this shift brings.
It is Vivian’s relationships, that with her family, her friends, and with men, that define a great deal of what happens to her. Before coming to New York she was at Vassar College but soon drops out. Her relationship with her parents never recovers, and when they do come together again, the tension is high. Her brother is another complicated relationship. He had left years earlier to go to boarding school, and then onto college, so they weren’t close. He later enters the navy and comes back into her life on the one day where her life falls apart. While he may try to help her, he ultimately ends up hurting her.
Vivian finds many friends in New York. That of Celia Ray, the showgirl, Olive, the theatre manager and companion of Aunt Peg, and later Marjorie. Aunt Peg is almost more friend than family as, while taking her in her charge, she and Vivian come to depend on each other. As for men, they are a big part of Vivan’s life. She has boyfriends, lovers and everything in between. It is men who ruin her life and men who make life worth living.
This is a book that feels ahead of its time.
It features young women corrupted, single mothers, divorce, and inter-class relationships. Which are all enough to cause a heart attack in those days. Yet, through it all is the powerful message that women can do anything. Vivian is strong, independent and sure of herself. We follow her from a young girl to an old woman and all the changes that life (and the world) brings along the way. She is a fully fleshed out, well-written woman and the novels emotional heart would not beat so strong without her.
As with life, I genuinely did not know what would happen, as Vivian navigates her way through New York. With each new arc, the story felt fresh. It built the narrative layers that made the ending all the more glorious to read and hard to put down.
I’m not really one for ratings, but I would give this a 4 1/2 stars. I rarely give a book 5 stars and only reserve it for absolute favourites, so this is high praise from me!
City of Girls is charming, funny, cheeky and a delight from start to finish.
Life is both fleeting and dangerous, and there is no point in denying yourself pleasure, or being anything other than what you are.
Thank you for reading my City of Girls review. Have you read City of Girls? Do you plan on reading it soon?
Have a look at my other book reviews, including my last one – Milkman by Anna Burns.
Oh wow! I can tell that you reallllly liked this book! There seem to be a very many factors happening in this book. It sounds very intriguing slowly creeps over to goodreads
@ahanarao haha yes just a bit! You should definitely check it out if it sounds up your street! 🙂