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Review
A comic masterpiece . . . very funny, tender and as laughably accurate an account of the dismal nature of life in Soviet Russia as one could hope for . . . Quite apart from the ingeniously ludicrous plot and the acutely drawn characters, what adds to the joy of this book is the precision of Towles’ style. Again and again he conveys exactly the right impression with a deliciously surprising choice of words . . . a sheer delight. — William Hartson ― Daily Express
A work of great charm, intelligence and insight. — Nick Rennison ― Sunday Times
No historical novel was more witty, insightful and original ― Sunday Times, Culture Magazine
Elegant sentences, wonderful characters and inventive storytelling . . . This is everything a novel should be: charming, witty, poetic and generous. An absolute delight. ― Mail on Sunday
This novel is astonishing, uplifting and wise. Don’t miss it. ― Chris Cleave
I just reread A Gentleman in Moscow … It’s a wonderful book at any time, and this time it brought home to me how people find ways to be happy, make connections, and make a difference to one another’s lives, even in the strangest, saddest and most restrictive circumstances. — Tana French ― Good Housekeeping
I think the world feels so disordered right now. The count’s refinement and genteel nature are exactly what we’re longing for. His world was also in shambles but he maintained his grace and humor.
There is so, so much to love in this book as we keep company with the endlessly entertaining Count . . .[This] novel is wistful, whimsical and wry and elegantly captures that most apposite of lessons: ‘By the smallest of one’s actions, one can restore some sense of order to the world’. Brilliant ― Sunday Express
A Gentleman in Moscowis a tale abundant in humour, history and humanity, with a poignant message about time passing. That Towles also makes this rollicking good fun is no mean feat. ― Sunday Telegraph
WINNING . . . GORGEOUS . . . SATISFYING . . . TOWLES IS A CRAFTSMAN ― New York Times Book Review
Towles’ use of language is an absolute pleasure to read and you can’t help but savour every last word . . . What makes it a great work of historical fiction is the apt creations the author builds outside the hotel walls in a truly tumultuous time. Towles creates such a memorable character in Rostov and this book brings something for everyone – humour, history, friendship and philosophy ― Irish Times
Book Description
About the Author
From the Publisher
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THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY, THE NEW DAZZLING NOVEL BY AMOR TOWLES, OUT NOW
OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD- a BBC Radio 4 Book Club choice, soon to be a major TV series starring Ewan McGregor
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‘A wonderful book’ – Tana French
‘This novel is astonishing, uplifting and wise. Don’t miss it’ – Chris Cleave
‘No historical novel this year was more witty, insightful or original‘ – Sunday Times, Books of the Year
‘ A supremely uplifting novel … It’s elegant, witty and delightful – much like the Count himself.’ – Mail on Sunday, Books of the Year
‘Charming … shows that not all books about Russian aristocrats have to be full of doom and nihilism’ – The Times, Books of the Year
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On 21 June 1922, Count Alexander Rostov – recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt – is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol.
Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. But instead of his usual suite, he must now live in an attic room while Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval.
Can a life without luxury be the richest of all?
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A BOOK OF THE DECADE, 2010-2020 (INDEPENDENT)
THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
A MAIL ON SUNDAY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
A DAILY EXPRESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S BEST BOOKS OF 2017
ONE OF BILL GATES’S SUMMER READS OF 2019
NOMINATED FOR THE 2018 INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS WEEK AWARD
Craig Middleton –
Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov returns to Moscow from Paris as the Bolsheviks now rule over the Soviet Union as they’ve defeated the White Russian opposition. He understands the Russian aristocracy are being executed daily; however, he returns to the family estate, Idlhour, to aid his family in all the chaos. The Count is captured and put on trial for a famous “political” poem he once published and exiled to the famous Hotel Metropol, where he remains for over thirty years under house arrest.Anyone reading this little synopsis would believe this to be a banal premise for a novel. A Gentleman in Moscow exceeds banal to the status of extraordinary, as we track along with this charming man’s life within the hotel’s halls while learning about old Russia before the revolution.Count Alexander is intelligent, worldly, well-read, and nurtured in the finer things in life: great wine, gastronomic knowledge, and a lost generation’s stately manners. The Count’s central redeeming attributes are kindness and care for his fellow human beings. Although very much aware of his lofty station, he never condescends and seems to have an uncanny comprehension of human nature. He takes his Fate as it comes, handling himself with integrity and humor.The two other more central characters are Nina and Sofia. At the beginning of the text, we meet Nina as a young girl of eight or nine: precocious with a strong sense of self, the Count and the child strike up a unique relationship that is both loving and funny. The Count becomes “Uncle Alex” over a few years until her family must move out of the Hotel. Later, after many years, she returns with a young daughter of eight years of age, caught up in her State duties, and leaves Sofia with the Count. This relationship grows into a beautiful connection between kindred spirits.The Count doesn’t sit in his room simply reading and brooding, his life in the Hotel becomes productive and the many characters working within the Hotel, we come to know and relate to intimately… my favorites are the Hotel chef and the beautiful Soviet film star, whose connection to the count lasts for many years.Published in 2016, A Gentleman in Moscow became an international bestseller. Over the years, I’ve never based my 12-month reading list on The New York Times Bestseller List, however. I managed to come across the novel by accident, read the first chapter and bought it without hesitation.A Gentleman in Moscow is an exceptional piece of literature: sensitive, educational, moving, and a word of caution: the novel’s ending might leave you with a tear in your eye.Truly astonishing.
suzanne Roman –
I love everything about this book and was entranced by the wonderful characters, the poetic prose and the wonderfully satisfying plot. I will seek out more of this author’s titles from now on.
jenny –
One wonders at first how an enforced life sentence in a hotel can provide interest, but it certainly does! Unusual and unputdownable, it a lesson in chivalry. I loved it.
CameronR –
A novel for thinkers, not for readers of superficial, fast paced pulp fiction, of whom I typically number.I had to slow down my normal habits, and savour the book, and a holiday is a perfect time for me to do that.I suspect it’s only a 4 for me as I am not a fan of slow heavy “literary” works like the Count references, and also perhaps because of the limits of my own intellect. This novel is certainly more accessible than “classic literature” but definitely asks more of the reader than the latest Jack Reacher novel (which I also really enjoy).But I certainly did enjoy reading it. It may be leisurely paced sure, but is absolutely not plodding.I enjoyed the author’s light way with words, it’s uncommonly well written. I enjoyed the way the Count was a man of another time, when manners counted, and he never stooped to the barbaric and soulless ways of the time he found himself in. My heart ached for the loss of such a gentle and noble man to wider society and the inhumanity of his house arrest. My sadness and empathy was of course lightened by the wonderful friendships he was able to forge, particularly with who might have been otherwise dismissed as a heartless thug, the KGB colonel who was ultimately able to find the decent man in himself as a result of his friendship with the Count.The plight of the Count, finding himself to be caught out of time, very much reminded me of another highly philosophical Count, featured in Di Lampedusa’s “The Leopard” which also tracks the story of a nobleman witnessing the end of aristocracy and his privileged life and the rise of the working classes in 19th century Sicily. That is a heavier read again, but I think people who loved this book should check that one out.In short highly recommended and would love to read more of the Count’s life and times should the author ever return to him. I’ve never wanted to visit Putin’s Moscow, but this book had me momentarily considering it, in the way that a very good book can do. If only to see the Metropol. At this point I have no idea if it exists, but he has written of it so wonderfully, it is as if it must.
anchovie –
What a delightful read! A personal tale during the background of Russia’s transition from Czarist royal control through the initial optimism for collective prosperity through communism and the dawning horrors of the Stalinist era. The erudite Count Rostov is my favourite hero. Highly recommended!