City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

This is a long book – almost 500 pages – but I enjoyed every single one.  So what can I tell you without spoiling the fun.

It is a story set in New York.  The narrator is Vivian who was 19 in 1940 and it is her story – the story spans decades but is never boring.

Vivian dropped out of college and is sent to live with her aunt – who is eccentric and runs a local theatre serving Hell's Kitchen.  The extreme impact on her of events in her first year in New York are felt throughout her life.

Vivian as narrator is unflinchingly honest about her way of life and whatever you may think of it, I challenge you not to be intrigued and entertained.

By the end of the story you realise Vivian's basic premise is that things happen to people, and people feel things – they are not wrong – but just are.  Not all people are the same – a good lesson to be reminded of.

This book is both light and entertaining and also very thought provoking.

I thought this was a better book than The Signature of All Things.  Gilbert is very talented indeed.

There is sex in this book – not particularly graphic – but if it might offend you, take care.