u003cbu003eu003cbu003eAN INSTANT u003ciu003eNEW YORK TIMESu003c/iu003e BESTSELLER!u003c/bu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003eu003cbu003eFrom the # 1 u003ciu003eNew York Timesu003c/iu003e bestselling author of u003ciu003eEat Pray Loveu003c/iu003e and u003ciu003eThe Signature of All Thingsu003c/iu003e, a delicious novel of glamour, sex, and adventure, about a young woman discovering that you don't have to be a u003ciu003egood girlu003c/iu003e to be a good person.u003c/bu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003eu003cbu003e"A spellbinding novel about love, freedom, and finding your own happiness." - PopSugaru003c/bu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003eu003cbu003e"Intimate and richly sensual, razzle-dazzle with a hint of danger." -u003ciu003eUSA Todayu003c/iu003eu003c/bu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003eu003cbu003e"Pairs well with a cocktail...or two." -u003ciu003eTheSkimmu003c/iu003eu003c/bu003eu003c/bu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003e"Life is both fleeting and dangerous, and there is no point in denying yourself pleasure, or being anything other than what you are."u003cbru003eu003cbru003eBeloved author Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), u003ciu003eCity of Girlsu003c/iu003e explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love. u003cbru003eu003cbru003eIn 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse. There Vivian is introduced to an entire cosmos of unconventional and charismatic characters, from the fun-chasing showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer, and no-nonsense stage manager. But when Vivian makes a personal mistake that results in professional scandal, it turns her new world upside down in ways that it will take her years to fully understand. Ultimately, though, it leads her to a new understanding of the kind of life she craves - and the kind of freedom it takes to pursue it. It will also lead to the love of her life, a love that stands out from all the rest. u003cbru003eu003cbru003eNow eighty-nine years old and telling her story at last, Vivian recalls how the events of those years altered the course of her life - and the gusto and autonomy with which she approached it. "At some point in a woman's life, she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time," she muses. "After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is." Written with a powerful wisdom about human desire and connection, u003ciu003eCity of Girlsu003c/iu003e is a love story like no other.
