Staff Pick
Yes, everything you've heard about A Gentleman in Moscow is true; if I had my way, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov would be my dad. Beginning in 1922, Towles tells the story of a Russian count under house arrest in the Moscow Metropol Hotel, and follows his charmed (yes, really!) life for the next 30 years. The Count is an extraordinary fellow, with charisma, smarts, and kindness in excess, and it's pretty hard not to fall in love with him. He becomes the head waiter at the hotel, he makes lifelong friendships, he matches wits with the greatest (and most feeble) minds of the time, and does a little intrigue on the side. He teaches us that home is where you make it and family comes in the most surprising of configurations. This is just a delightful book that delivers a wonderful character study, a thrilling ending, and a giant warm spot to your heart. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A New York Times bestseller
The same gorgeous, layered richness that marked Towles debut, Rules of Civility, shapes A Gentleman in Moscow] Entertainment Weekly Elegant as lavishly filigreed as a Faberge egg O, the Oprah Magazine He can t leave his hotel. You won t want to. From the
New York Timesbestselling author of
Rules of Civility a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel
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 humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.
And the intrigue
A Gentleman in Moscow] is laced with sparkling threads (they will tie up) and tokens (they will matter): special keys, secret compartments, gold coins, vials of coveted liquid, old-fashioned pistols, duels and scars, hidden assignations (discreet and smoky), stolen passports, a ruby necklace, mysterious letters on elegant hotel stationery a luscious stage set, backdrop for a downright
Casablanca-like drama.
The San Francisco Chronicle From the Hardcover edition."
Synopsis
A New York Times bestseller
Chosen as a best book of the year by NPR, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Philadelphia Inquirer
"The same gorgeous, layered richness that marked Towles' debut, Rules of Civility, shapes A Gentleman in Moscow]" -Entertainment Weekly
"'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'Eloise' meets all the Bond villains." -TheSkimm
"Irresistible. . . an] elegant period piece. . .as lavishly filigreed as a Faberge egg."
-O, the Oprah Magazine
He can't leave his hotel. You won't want to.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility--a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel
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 humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count's endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.
"And the intrigue ... A Gentleman in Moscow] is laced with sparkling threads (they will tie up) and tokens (they will matter): special keys, secret compartments, gold coins, vials of coveted liquid, old-fashioned pistols, duels and scars, hidden assignations (discreet and smoky), stolen passports, a ruby necklace, mysterious letters on elegant hotel stationery... a luscious stage set, backdrop for a downright Casablanca-like drama." -The San Francisco Chronicle
Synopsis
More than half a million readers have fallen in love with the
New York Times bestseller,
A Gentleman in Moscow "How delightful that in an era as crude as ours this finely composed novel stretches out with old-World elegance."
-The Washington Post
"'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'Eloise' meets all the Bond villains."
-TheSkimm
"Irresistible. . . an] elegant period piece. . .as lavishly filigreed as a Faberge egg."
-O, The Oprah Magazine
He can't leave his hotel. You won't want to.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility--a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel
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 humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count's endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.
"And the intrigue ... A Gentleman in Moscow] is laced with sparkling threads (they will tie up) and tokens (they will matter): special keys, secret compartments, gold coins, vials of coveted liquid, old-fashioned pistols, duels and scars, hidden assignations (discreet and smoky), stolen passports, a ruby necklace, mysterious letters on elegant hotel stationery... a luscious stage set, backdrop for a downright Casablanca-like drama." -The San Francisco Chronicle
Synopsis
"The book is like a salve. I think the world feels disordered right now. The count's refinement and genteel nature are exactly what we're longing for."
--Ann Patchett
"How delightful that in an era as crude as ours this finely composed novel stretches out with old-World elegance." --The Washington Post He can't leave his hotel. You won't want to.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility--a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel.
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 humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count's endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.
Soon to be a major television series starring five-time Academy Award(R) nominee Kenneth Branagh.
"And the intrigue . . . A Gentleman in Moscow] is laced with sparkling threads (they will tie up) and tokens (they will matter): special keys, secret compartments, gold coins, vials of coveted liquid, old-fashioned pistols, duels and scars, hidden assignations (discreet and smoky), stolen passports, a ruby necklace, mysterious letters on elegant hotel stationery . . . a luscious stage set, backdrop for a downright Casablanca-like drama." --The San Francisco Chronicle
Synopsis
From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility--a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel. The mega-bestseller with more than 1.5 million readers, soon to be a major television series
"The novel buzzes with the energy of numerous adventures, love affairs, and] twists of fate." --The Wall Street Journal
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 humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count's endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.