Gilbert's third book "City of Girls" a historic fiction released in 2019, the story runs about an independent - minded woman navigating the cultural upheaval of New York.
The books narrator/ Character Vivian describes her youth as a 19 year old girl with extravagance adventure and being a rebel, been disbarred from university and been sent to New York to live with her eccentric aunt who owns Broadway theater. Vivian has no interest in acting, but she adores fine clothes, and she’s a whiz with a sewing machine. Always on the lookout for talent, her aunt makes her the theater’s costumer. And so what should have been a mere summer interlude became a whole life.
A novel that consists of 470 pages is perfectly pleasant the kind of book one wouldn't mind to find on the layout of the lockdown. The book has its charm.
On the opening page Vivian receives a letter from a Women in her 60's and wonders about the mystery. Believe it or not the whole text in this book is the response to the letter. When the response finally came on page 399, I had forgotten the letter.
The first half of the book is entertaining revolving around the dangers and fun of city life ,a play produced in the theater involving one of the star British female lead.
Novels so rarely get better that I was shocked to discover that the ending of “City of Girls” is genuinely moving. I can’t tell you anything more without spoiling the long-delayed mystery of the plot.
Vivian is all feathers and glitter — a sparkly story stitched onto a formless narrative garment that forgets all the lessons Gilbert has learned (and imparted) about the so-called plight of single women.
“They were designed to make people happy,” says Aunt Peg, “without making the audience work too hard to understand what was going on.” The same thing could be said about City of Girls.
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