I have never read anything by Elizabeth Gilbert before although I do remember seeing the Eat, Love, Pray movie which was decent, however, the dual timelines of City of Girls and the fact the main character is telling her life story reminded me vaguely of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. As time passes both girls become very close to the point where Celia actually helps arrange for Vivian to lose her virginity.
Vivian forms an immediate bond with Edna over her love of clothes and sewing but she also witness Celia changes from the strong, independent woman she has been partying with to being subservient to Edna. I also really liked the fact everything is discussed with hindsight as Vivian is recalling these events in the future. After consulting Billy, Peg has many ideas for the play and works begins but the cracks in the management of the Lily quickly begin to show but I am not sure where the story is going here.
Vivian also celebrates her 20 th birthday in New York and obviously she goes a little wild with Celia but the morning after she finally gets to meet her uncle Billy who has only been talked about by others up until this point. As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, everything seemed to be stagnating a little until audition for the City of Girls play is underway and Vivian ends up meeting the handsome Anthony Roccella.
Vivian immediately falls for the charming and arrogant Anthony ending up in his bed later that night but he does introduced her to a world of pleasures she has never experienced before deepening her feelings for Anthony. However, she is warned by several people including Edna and Peg about not letting her relationship with one of the male leads disrupt the play as that comes first as it could be the game changers that the Lily needs right now.
When the play finally opens and the reviews all great come pouring in I have a feeling this might be a turning point in the novel for it to get more interesting. Feeling hurt, upset and betrayed Vee finds herself in a threesome with Arthur and Cecelia. The whole event is strange for Vee as she felt lonely during it and left shortly after but she learns that someone took pictures of them and her name is going to be plastered all over the papers the following afternoon.
