Review City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

I read ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ by Elizabeth Gilbert some good eight years back, and was touched by its honesty, and originality. Her latest offering ‘The City of Girls’ however, disappointed me in more ways than one and I couldn’t really connect to the story and characters or be hugely moved at any given point in the narrative. 

The good parts first; the author’s writing aptitude and flair is highly impressive, I particularly enjoyed the dry-humoured narrative style with the protagonist relating her entire life story to another character Angela. The story starts off in the summer of 1940s when Vivian Morris is sent off to New York by her parents. The meticulous and vibrant description of the New York Theatre scene in that era is much entertaining. Lily Playhouse, a revue theatre, is bustling with many varied and interesting characters, all etched out in painstaking detail. A wide-eyed Vivian whole-heartedly throws herself into the colourful and adventurous life offered here. In the process she has fun, learns, discovers and most importantly makes mistakes! The second half of the book when Vivian comes back to New York has a slightly different and subdued tone to it with the inclusion of the USA in the second World War and its effects on the lives of everyone. This is where our main girl comes into her own and finds her calling and place in the world. 

A good plot but at the heart of this book lies the (very colourful) sexual life of the protagonist; it’s beginning, adventures, and many ups and downs! Personally, the abundant and in-depth description of such scenes became nauseating for me. At the cost of sounding prudish, this book confirms that after all the evolution of humanity and technology, intellectual parameters are stagnant or rather deteriorating universally. It is quite clear what sells on media from publishing to Movies (case in point trending of 365 days on Netflix). 

There are many admirable themes that the author brings up in the story such as the unnecessary pressure to conform to societal norms, women being capable of staying happy on their own and enjoying the sisterhood amongst women. But the book is too black and white; to prove that a single woman can be very happy with a family of friends why does one have to show every marriage as painful and every family as dysfunctional? Are we saying only those who are leading a bohemian and/or somewhat promiscuous life have the potential to be fun, warm and genuine people? 

My Star rating 2.5/5