"There has never been a better time in history to be a woman than now," says writer Elizabeth Gilbert (Connecticut, USA, 1969) who presents City of Women (SUMA), her third novel, set in New York in 1940, a time in which women's freedom of decision hung by a thread called society.

"Many stories about women in classical literature are like a kind of warning so that women do not dare . My intention was to write a novel in which the protagonists met again with their sexuality and had the freedom to decide on their life," Gilbert says.

City of women follows in the footsteps of Vivian, a 19-year-old girl full of curiosity who, after being expelled from university, embarks on a trip to New York that would change the course of her life. Sent by her parents to live in the theater of her bohemian aunt Peg in the center of the city, Vivian falls fully into a colorful and lustful world that little resembled the world in which she grew up and with the privileged education to which she was accustomed

"It is now easier to understand that women have other concerns," says the author. The difference between the scenario he built for his work and the current era, according to Gilbert, "is that women create movements like the #MeToo and more voices come together, before that did not happen. Before there were few who had an independent life and sexually free. I am the first generation of my family to have absolute control over my life . I will always fight for that, "he says.

At the age of 31, newly married Gilbert with an eye on motherhood, he realized that his perfect life outside New York was not what he really wanted. "I was not completely satisfied," says the author. He looked for different ways of escape, separated and embarked on a journey of self-discovery with three destinations: Rome, where he learned Italian; Mumbai, where he cultivated spirituality and visited a Hindu monastery, which Gilbert said helped him in his "divine transcendence"; and Bali, where he sought balance and found the love of Brazilian José Nunes, whom he married so he could live legally in the US.

Thanks to this one-year journey, the world met Elizabeth Gilbert. He transformed all his experiences into a novel: Come, pray, love (2006), a story that resonated as a motivational message for all the unfortunate in matters of love , selling more than 12 million copies. In 2010, American director Ryan Murphy took the plot to the cinema with Julia Roberts and Javer Bardem as protagonists. It raised more than 180 million euros worldwide and also caused waves of tourists who like Gilbert undertook the search for "themselves" in the sites she visited.

" I think the world is a school . When I am going through difficult times it is best for me to undertake a trip. Our souls choose to visit some places because those places have many things that we can learn that will make us evolve," Gilbert says. "Everything that happens to you is provided as an opportunity to grow and learn, and to become a more mature soul."

Gilbert announced in 2016 that he separated from Nunes after 12 years of relationship. Two months later, she revealed that she had a romantic relationship with Rayya Elias , her best friend during the last decade, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer. Gilbert was at his side to accompany her throughout the treatment. They married in June 2017 in a private ceremony, and as their votes announced, their marriage lasted until death separated them last January.

" City of women began to be in my head before Rayya got sick. I started researching to learn all about the wonderful world of theater and everything about the New York of 1940. Then Rayya got sick and I couldn't write anything else, I just wrote I dedicated myself to the city and enjoy it until it died, "says Gilbert.

He says that the inspiration to continue his novel came shortly after the death of his beloved "as if he received a message from the universe that said that the best thing he could do was write the book as a kind of tribute."

Does Rayya's death still cry? "Yes. It's terrible that the most important person in my life, the most important person in this world, the person who didn't imagine me living without her, now that person is gone. What is the universe trying to teach me? It would seem that my Opportunity is to say that I can apparently live without this person, that I need to find within me everything I found within her.It sounds tragic because it is, but at the same time it is something exciting.I know it seems a strange word but it is almost a challenge The answer seems to be always: yes, I can . "

Despite the difficult moments, are you in love with your life? "Not only mine, I am also in love with the lives of all human beings. I think we come to this world for a reason. Life has its own plan for everyone , I am in love with that," Gilbert concludes.

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