Bayou Pages | “The Manhattan Girls” by Gill Paul

REVIEW BY MEREDITH MCKINNIE

“But at least she was married to the smartest, funniest man she had ever met, and that counted for everything…”

In keeping with my current fascination with historical fiction, I anxiously cracked the new spine of Gill Paul’s 2022 novel The Manhattan Girls. I was intrigued by the release of a novel set exactly 100 years prior in the Roaring 20s, an era besotted with luxury and reluctant hope after World War I, an era known for flapper dresses and Prohibition rule-breaking parties. The enchantment of Old New York, and a story centered around genuine female New Yorkers, makes for quintessential escapism. Paul focuses on the lives of Dorothy Parker, a witty New York writer and satirist with a string of failed relationships; Jane Grant, a New York Times reporter hellbent on starting a new magazine named The NewYorker; Winifred Lenihan, a stunningly beautiful Broadway sensation and sexism target; and Peggy Leach, aspiring novelist and 30-year-old virgin. What these women have in common is a desire for something else, for an era beyond the one in which they live. In the pursuit of their desires, they manage to claw back against a system that would rather see women remain in the background.    

When the men at the Algonquin Round Table decide to start a men’s only poker group, the four women retaliate by forming their own exclusive group, a monthly bridge game solely for themselves. As their lives intertwine, Dottie’s failing marriage becomes the center point for the women rallying together to save their friend from the effects of heartbreak and the instability of undiagnosed, and unrecognized at the time, mental illness. As Dottie sinks deeper into despair and revels in flaunting her disregard for her friends’ concern, the other women, unbeknownst to one another without the Dottie connection, migrate in and out of each other’s lives, exploring the power of female friendships in a world revolving around men. 

Paul presents each chapter in alternating viewpoints, exploring the hardships of life in New York, alongside the backdrop of an ever-exciting city. While engaging themes of sexism, independence, alcoholism, and domestic violence, Paul manages to keep the heart of the story rather light and more of a jaunt to read. While the female characters are aware of the effects of a sexist society, they do not yet understand the system that upholds such behavior, nor their complicity in that system. They incessantly love the men who uphold it, while trying to love themselves. Can the two behaviors co-exist in 1921 New York? Paul flirts with an answer but proves the tightrope is ever present and must ultimately be walked alone. If you’re a fan of escapism and “I am woman – hear me roar” stories, then Paul’s newest novel is definitely worth your attention. 

“I think you’ve got the wrong gal. I’m known for many things, but homemaking’s not one of them.”