City of girls

A SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER

'Stunning' Lisa Taddeo, author of THREE WOMEN
'Warm and wise' Stephanie Merritt, Observer
'Glamorous, sexy, compelling' Dolly Alderton, Sunday Times
'I fell in love with Vivian from page one' Daisy Buchanan
'An education in love, and an iridescent delight' Rowan Pelling, Spectator

New York, 1940. Young, glamorous and inseparable, Vivian and Celia are chasing trouble from one end of the city to the other. But there is risk in all this play - that's what makes it so fun, and so dangerous. Sometimes, the world may feel like it's ending, but for Vivian and Celia, life is just beginning.

City of Girls is about daring to break conventions and follow your desires: a celebration of glamour, resilience, growing up, and the joys of female friendship - and about the freedom that comes from finding a place you truly belong.


A glamorous, sexy, compelling romp of a novel about showgirls in New York in the 1940s. It is an addictive story, with vivid, brazenly drawn female characters, that brims with fascinating historical details of the time . Radical and refreshing to read -- Dolly Alderton, Sunday Times

I adored this story, I fell in love with Vivian from page one, she has an utterly singular voice, and I was captivated by tcombination of glamour and grit - it's a dazzling escapist fantasy with characters and emotions that are thrillingly real -- Daisy Buchanan

A glorious, multi-layered, emotionally astute celebration of womanhood . An eloquently persuasive treatise on the judgment and punishment of women, and a heartfelt call to reclaim female sexual agency -- Sam Baker, Guardian

Glamorous and vivid, Independent, Top 15 novels of the year so far

Breezily funny and vividly written, City Of Girls is a quietly radical celebration of feminine sexual inhibition that slips down as easily as a gin martini. Expect to see it on multiple beaches this summer -- Claire Allfree, Metro

A rollicking, beautifully rendered ride of glitter and fun . Gilbert's novel is something of a masterpiece of flapdoodle itself . Gilbert has a knack for storytelling and her plot doesn't so much twist as twirl, high-kicking all the way . A rambunctious anthem to living a life joyous and satisfyingly full - and that deserves an ovation, Evening Standard

City of Girls will be a hit ... Readers will adore its bolstering message of hope, Sunday Times

Written with such wit, verve and emotional honesty that you feel you've washed down 100 life lessons within a vodka martini . There are some of the most brilliant and truthful evocations of youthful sexual exploration that you'll ever read . She has triumphed. City of Girls is an education in love, and an iridescent delight -- Rowan Pelling, Spectator

Brilliant on female friendship, desire and the influence a good mentor can bring to enrich a young woman's life, Grazia Summer Reads

Compelling . works with themes of freedom, responsibility and empowerment that feel both timeless and timely. In a moment when women's desires are still being governed, this is a story about a woman who recognises - and embraces - hers, Time