A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW

Amor Towle’s beautifully crafted novel ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ transported me to the early days of the Russian Revolution in Moscow’s grand Hotel Metropole, where the protagonist, Count Alexander Rostov is to spend his life under house arrest. His aristocratic old-world charm, flexibility and cunning enables him to rise above the conditions of his cramped exile, as the procession of Kremlin leaders and the rich and famous from the four corners of the earth pass through the famous venue.

Towles masterfully illuminates the Count’s inner and outer worlds and steers the reader gently along the revolutionary road of the ‘New Russia.’ The Count’s entanglement with the hotel staff, his relationship with a young girl and a popular actress create unexpected tensions for a gentleman who quietly prides himself as the master of decorum and self-control.

Towles invites the reader to accompany the Count on his quest for survival, immersed in all the smells, sights and sounds of the struggle of the revolutionaries. A truly memorable read.