Book 2/3 of Elizbeth Gilbert month, thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury who provided me with a copy for an honest review.

There's a real sense of wonder about the 1940s. It's a time that I think is undervalued in literature, or perhaps to put it best, I rarely read about. The premise of the book however matches the slightly opaque tone of the book.

My first LG book was her renowned Eat Prey Love. This book is a work of fiction, in first person about her rebellious time escaping suburbia for a bite of the Big Apple with a motley crew of creatives, how she experienced highs, lows and how she did things her way. It's first-person and the final book of the trio, The Signature of Things, is third-person, so I feel I am really making the full mix of her writing styles.

Okay, let's go. Vivien, more or less expelled from college for being a failure. Spoilt, privileged, young. A chance offer from Aunt Peg brings her to New York where she is surrounded by vice and good times in the hazy sunset of America before the war. She's at the Lily Playhouse where, spoiler alert, the play City of Girls is put on to save this decaying theatre.

The writing is excellent for most of this, although it's written a bit stiffly, as if everything is behind a veil. Vivien's naivety is why everything feels through a glass darkly. Still, Vivien decides that she's a girl who just wants to have fun. She's a talented seamstress, so she has a part to play and her friend, the vamp who ends up boarding with her, is a good time girl. Together, they share sexual exploits (the actual premise of this book is that Vivien, in her 90s, is responding to a letter from a woman called Angela about how she knew her departed father, so not entirely accurate that she would talk about orgasms) and crash out of clubs, gay and kissed by youth.

There's some interesting dynamics here. Gilbert's Vivien acknowledges that she let down her friend, Celia, once when it was highly likely she was roughed around by a man. This twist leads to the twist, which I still find anticlimactic (major spoilers: as well as being a drab hand of sex and sewing, Vivien is somewhat of an ingenue with the British, Vivien Leigh-esq Edna, who is portraying the lead character in City of Girls. As Vivien once let down Celia, Vivien makes a big mistake that culminates in her leaving NYC. This, in turn, leads her to meet the letter writer's father and makes for a second half of the book where Vivien's life exists outside of the Lily Playhouse.)

It is quite sordid, the book in a way that doesn't feel authentic. As I have said many a time, Jackie Collins understood sex. Authors like Judith Krantz, Sydney Sheldon, Harold Robbins, etc understood that to write pulp, sex had to play a part. In this book, sex is the cut and thrust of the book, leading the author to indicate that she was ahead of feminism and that a bunch of other 'shocking' things that happened in the book, a character swearing, a homosexual couple and a sensitive boy, all indicated that she was ahead of the curve.

Sometimes the plot isn't quite strong enough to be executed. However, I did keep reading this book and the last 1/3 I read continuously. There is a sense reading this that you are reading a historical novel that aces the period descriptions, indicates the moral dichotomy the characters are in and that history, especially in the 20th century, was repressive and damaging. I think, however, that it will be The Signature of Things that will probably utilise Gilbert's voice most effectively.

The story basically told the life of its main character Vivian since her dropout of school and went to live with her aunt in New York. As a young girl came to the fastest growing city of the time, she will then meet different peoples, have fun and troubles, experience ups and downs, eventually get to know about love, failure, war and build her own life.
The first half of Vivian’s New York life was kind of debauched as she spent her youth carelessly. She was surrounded by so many fancy things and interesting people. She knew nothing about the world instead of her own personal satisfaction. It depicted the immature and self-centered of an adolescent while growing up. After she made mistakes and her life collapsed, she gradually came to understand life and found her own standing. It all made sense at the end that she had became the person because of these experiences. Many of us are foolish when we are young and we all make mistakes even as an adult. But we learn from mistakes and find our own ways to develop our own life. Somehow the first half of her life was necessary for her growth.
Throughout the time Vivian will realize that there were different kinds of beauty and fashion styles. She also said that having sex satisfied her at the end. These idea provided meaning to beauty and sex. Especially while many people still think that women are not supposed to express enjoyment upon sex.
The story also described how people affected by war despite having a far distance from it. And the damages of war were hardly to be mended. The scene of war end was touching. It broke the compressed emotions during the difficult war years as well as showed the value of peace.
This book wasn’t in a fast pace but it kept developing moments for points and issues. I also like the causal writing style and the friendly tone. It is a book covered so much issues such as youth, sex, feminism, war, race, family. The story and light tone makes it less heavy while giving the idea.

Elizabeth Gilbert's "City of Girls" is a refreshing, witty tale that transports readers back to 1940s Manhattan. Through the perspective of nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris, Gilbert offers a vibrant journey full of whimsy and peril. The unlikely adventure starts as Vivian steps foot into the Lily Playhouse, a charmingly down-at-heel Manhattan revue. With her passion and ambition to sew, Vivian quickly ascends to becoming the toast of the showgirls, transforming tat-only fit for the cheap seats into masterpieces of couture.

Gilbert deftly examines the spirit of friendship between the "City of Girls" while capturing the danger and thrill of the unfamiliar wartime New York City. Vivian's friendship with her girlfriends proves a great comfort amidst hard lessons and the courage it takes to survive this exciting time. Vivian learns to constantly reinvent herself, continuously making the best of any situation. "City of Girls" serves as an inspiring and entertaining reminder to fearlessly step out into the unknown.

I originally reviewed City of Girls after only reading about 20% of the book. I very quickly decided that it wasn’t for me. I now believe that I was far too impatient and should have read on.

I’ve been given the opportunity to reread the book as it has been chosen by one of my book group members. I was determined to give it another go and I’m so glad that I did. I loved the book as it got going. Vivian is such an interesting and complex main character that it was a pleasure to follow her life story. It’s beautifully written and illustrates so well, the changing times of the 1940s and beyond.

I wholeheartedly recommend it to all and urge readers to get past the first few chapters as it really grows on you.

This was a riot of fun with a kaleidoscope of amazing characters. An unapologetic coming of age story, we follow Vivian as she's writing a letter to an unknown recipient who has asked "given that my mother has passed away, I wonder if you might now feel comfortable telling me what you were to my father?"

To answer the question truthfully, Vivian starts at the beginning, in 1940 when her life changed forever as she moved to New York to live with her bohemian Aunt Peg who owns a theatre. And it is here we are introduced to show girls and legendary actresses and all the comings and goings of the theatre people. Vivian is from a well to do family and tries to live up to their expectations, but she's 19 and discovers sex and independence for the first time, and starts really living. And she enjoys it, all the attention that being a pretty young thing in New York brings.

I loved all the characters, Peg, Olive, Billy, Marjorie, Frank, Celia, Edith. Usually I get confused if there's too many characters, but everyone was so unique, you knew their character exactly. And Vivian. I didn't like her all the time, there were some instances I didn't agree with. But in the end I warmed to her and loved the life she had created. And I did shed a few tears towards the end.
A joy to read, thoroughly recommend.

I really enjoyed this book, and will look out for more of this kind - historical fiction that's not tooooo historical! Full of fun, frivolity, heart and soul.

I was so sad when I finished it but happy to have met Vivian and the cast of fab characters - Peg, Olive, and Gloria - and all the rest... and got a taste of the bustling New York City of the 1940s and beyond…

I particularly loved the very real way the many relationships were depicted. Each character had their own very relatable highs and lows, and much like life, sometimes it’s complicated! Nobody’s perfect, not even in the world of showbiz, and this was apparent in the novel.
As a drama queen myself I loved the theatre setting and reading about life on and off stage at the down at heel Lily Playhouse, a character in itself!

Beautiful read!

Thanks to the author, publisher Bloomsbury, and NetGalley for the digital arc.

A glorious ride through pre-war and wartime New York, as a struggling theatre puts on a sparkly new show that makes The Boy Friend look like high art. Full of gossip, sapphism and the transformative power of family and romantic love, this is certainly Gilbert's best novel yet and perhaps her best book, even for the die-hard fans of Eat, Pray, Love. A delicious and unputdownable experience.

This is a beautifully intoxicating tale set in 1940´s New York and set around Lily's Playhouse. Narrated by 95 year old Vivian who failed college in her hometown and was sent by her affluent parents to her eccentric aunts theatre with her sewing machine to find herself and formulate her future. This was a creative, rich, promiscuous tale surrounded with scandal, glamour and marvel with an overarching message of living your truth, growing from mistakes and living life to the max with no regrets ohhh there was one regret .... not having enough sex.
I found this thrilling and vivid but a bit too lengthy and dull in parts, the reflective nature was interest but a bit self indulgent.. Thankyou to NetGalley and Riverhead for my ARC in return for an honest review.

What's not to love about a beautiful written book which captures the glamorous world of New York in the 20s, and continues the tale through to the 60s showing all the glitz and grit of life along the way. Full of humour and fun, but also heartfelt emotion, this is the perfect book to escape from the monotony of real life with. Dive head first into Viv's life, you wont regret it!

This is like reading two books.
The first half was good, the pace kept me turning the pages (or pushing the buttons of my kindle) but the second half just seemed to drag.
I found it very difficult to keep reading although I did.

Absolutely lush and gorgeous, and heartbreaking. I devoured this over one weekend, I was transported to the New York City that Gilbert describes so perfectly. I fell in love with the characters, harder than I have for a long time. I'll think about this book forever. I can't recommend enough.

A glitzy, glamorous and captivating insight in to the heady 1940s New York entertainment scene through the eyes of Vivian, whose naive world is turned upside down thanks to showgirls, actors and flamboyant Aunt Peg. A warm delight of a novel from Elizabeth Gilbert.

Within one chapter I was fully invested in Vivian’s story. Her voice is so clear and candid.

The book begins with Vivian, not a very elderly woman, being asked about her past relationship with a man. What was the nature of their relationship? And what exactly did they mean to each other?

To answer this, Vivian tells the story of her life. Arriving in New York to stay with her theatrical aunt, Vivian in innocent and inexperienced. Life in the theatre opens her eyes to a completely different world, as far removed from the security of middle class upbringing.

Vivian experiences a sexual awakening and becomes, in her own words, a ‘very promiscuous girl’. Drinking dancing and enjoying carefree sex, Vivian thrives on her new found freedoms, but constantly struggles with the expectations placed on her by the more conventional aspects of society.

When she find herself.embroiled in a scandalous that is going to hit the headlines and ruin her reputation, Vivian is devastated and returns home with her tail between her legs.

Vivian is a such a complex and real character. She is both innocent and experiences. Her sexual experience hides an emotional immaturity Over time she begins to understand her feelings and what she wants in her life.

Female friendship and relationships are central to this book. Despite her promiscuouity, few of Vivian’s relationships with men have much impact on her life. Her Aunt Peg and her long-term female partner, Celia the showgirl and her later business partner are all far more influential.

This book is long – nearly 500 pages – .and at points the pace slows and it does feel long. I loved the atmosphere and descriptions of Vivian’s life in the theatre. There were times in the post-war section of her story that dragged a little. But overall Vivian is an engaging narrator who acknowledges her flaws and self-indulgence.

I was gifted a digital copy this book by Netgalley.

I have very conflicting feelings about this book.
It could be because this isn't usually the type of genre I go for, but I feel like the story was terribly drawn out, especially the first half. It took me several weeks to get through that part, while I breezed through the second half in a matter of days. Because of that, I felt like the pacing was off and the Firing felt a little disjointed at times.
I absolutely loved Vivian though, and enjoyed seeing her turn from a free-spirited young lady to and accomplished, independent woman. I love the way she breezed through life, and I loved reading about how different things were back in the day.
Overall, not a bad book, but not one of my favorites either.

A gorgeous love story told by the 95 year old Vivian remembering her unconventional, carefree life in 1940's theatre. I loved the structure of the novel and the way the reader is transported back in time from frail old age to joyful youth. A delightful treat which I highly recommend.

Elizabeth Gilbert has done it again with a life-affirming and page-turning read perfect for cosying up with at the end of the day. Thank you to the publisher for approving me to read it! I'll be recommending this to my friends and professional colleagues.

In the first quarter of this book I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it. The main character Vivvie is entitled and privileged but overall I enjoyed reading it. Not my usual genre but she does have redeeming qualities and as she gets older, I respect her more.

So much fun and a gem of a find.

A beautiful tale of Vivian moving to New York to live with her Aunt Peg who owns a run down theatre. Here, Vivian takes up role of a seamstress, making beautiful costumes for the shows being put on by the theatre. Through this, she meets many wonderful characters and so begins a great story of growth, love, friendship, scandal and societal change.

If you enjoyed the story of Tanquery (Stephanie) on Humans of New York, this book is for you.

Such a delightful romp through New York starting in the 1940's. Vivian is a superb character who discovers and embraces a whole new way of life in her aunt's theatre in New York. The plot draws you in and the characters are so lifelike you can imagine being there with them. A fabulous piece of escapism.

This book came just at the right time, I was self-isolating in a tiny, cramped city flat and needed desperately to escape. City of Girls took me far from my isolation and I couldn't wait to pick it up every lunch break once I started and absolutely ate it up, sometimes even with breakfast too - a rarity for me. A riotous, feel good, romp that allowed me to travel when I couldn't and a little wildness when we are all having to be sensible.