Elderly Vivien Morris receives a letter from an old friend’s daughter, informing her that the daughter’s mother has passed away. With both her parents gone, the daughter asks Vivien how she came to know her family.

In 1940, Vivien was a dropout of Vassar College. Fed up with their daughter, Vivien’s parents pack her away to New York City to life with her theatrical aunt, Peg, in her crumbling theater house, hoping it will teach her a lesson and finally led Vivien to decide on what she values in her life. Instead, Vivien finds herself in a new world, filled with showgirls, sex, and freeing ambition. But when a lapse in judgement leads to Vivien being outcasted, she will have to decide just on who she wants to be.

City of Girls is very much a character study, focusing on one woman’s journey from girlhood into being a successful, well-rounded, and confident woman who learns she can’t rely on the approval of others to be happy. It’s a story that well resonate with a lot of people, regardless of gender. Often, at least in my own experience, life in your early years can feel overwhelming and it is can be easy to be swept up in the confusion of it all. But as Ms. Gilbert demonstrates in this story, that’s okay. The important lesson to be taken is to learn from your past mistakes and strive to be the person you want to be.

Concerning the plot itself, it does at time lags, particularly in the first half. There are some parts that Ms. Gilbert could have omitted from the story in order for it to flow better. The atmosphere is interesting and I loved exploring the world of a New York City showgirl. The family dynamics, not just with Vivien and her parents but also with her brother and aunt are fascinating to explore and the story does focus on the idea that family is not always who you are blood related to but the people you surround yourself with.

All that being said, it should be noted that while the summary of the story promises a nonstop adventure of showgirl life in the 1940s, it really is not. As I previously mentioned, this is very much a character study about a woman’s life, primarily focused in the 1940s but also exploring the New York City that came out of the Second World War in the 50s and 60s. Nonetheless, it is still a story worth diving into.

4 out of 5 stars.