A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Blurb

In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.

Brimming with humour, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavour to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.

Review

I started watching the TV series of this before I started reading the book but when I was in Waterstones I saw a copy and thought I would like to read the book. As soon as I got home I started to read it and now I have finished the book before the end of the TV series and inevitably I’m getting frustrated with the TV series.

It took me a long time to read this book and I’m not entirely sure why as I really enjoyed it and by the end of the book many characters were like old friends that I didn’t want to let go of. 

The book begins in 1922 where we meet Count Alexander Rostov who is sentenced to live out the rest of his days at the Hotel Metropol. If he tries to leave he will be shot. He is stripped of his wealth (although he might have a few little hidden stashes around), his home and his beloved grandmother but he isn’t stripped of his self respect and his sense of purpose. Although as the book goes on we see the Count’s sense of purpose change somewhat. The Count is never beaten down by the regime, he never lets bad thoughts hold him down for long. He always holds his head up high and presents himself as the true gentleman he is. 

The first thing that really struck me was how clever this book was. The whole book is set in a hotel but I was treated to so much more. Count Rostov’s insights into world events, into what is happening in the Russian politics, into books, music and even the movies is wonderful. You learn so much and yet it is all set in a hotel. It really is very clever writing by Towles. 

You get to meet some fantastic characters in this book. The more notable hotel staff who are there right from the beginning to end and are always the Count’s friends and of course there is Anna the famous actress. However, the two most intriguing characters are two young girls. Nina is a nine year old girl when she meets the Count and she is full of questions but they become firm friends. Nina gives the Count a sense of purpose, he goes on adventures around the hotel with her, he looks forward to her visits and seeing what experiments she is working on. He sees Nina grow and he loves her so when Nina turns up with her daughter Sophia and asks the Count to look after Sophia for a while, he can’t refuse. 

This book spans decades and in those decades we see the Count become head waiter, a friend, a teacher, a father figure, a bee keeper and much more. He goes from a gentleman of distinction to a gentleman of work and different purposes. We see the Count grow and those around him grow, especially Sophia. I loved this book and I love Towles’ writing style and will definitely be reading more of his books. The only problem for me with this book was the big time jumps where I would have liked a bit more detail of what had been happening in the gaps. I was also really disappointed in the ending where I was left with so many unanswered questions. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.  

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About the author

Born and raised in the Boston area, Amor Towles graduated from Yale College and received an MA in English from Stanford University. Having worked as an investment professional in Manhattan for over twenty years, he now devotes himself full time to writing. His first novel, Rules of Civility, published in 2011, was a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback and was ranked by the Wall Street Journal as one of the best books of 2011. The book was optioned by Lionsgate to be made into a feature film and its French translation received the 2012 Prix Fitzgerald. His second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, published in 2016, was also a New York Times bestseller and was ranked as one of the best books of 2016 by the Chicago Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the St. Louis Dispatch, and NPR. Both novels have been translated into over fifteen languages. 

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