From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility and the forthcoming novel The Lincoln Highway, a story about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel—a beautifully transporting novel. The mega-bestseller with more than 2 million readers, soon to be a major television series In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a … 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.
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The best book I’ve read in the past 2 years. Alexander would be every modern woman’s dream, at least mine.
One of the best books I have read.
This is one of the best novels I have read in the last 20 years. I loved it! My husband just started to read and is totally engrossed. Have found 3 other friends who have read it. They too liked it very much. Just finished Rules of Civility. Good too.
The story is interesting and the characters are people I’d love to know. The writing is beautiful! Read it!
THis is a wonderful novel in so many respects. I admit to having read it four times already, and look forward to reading it many more times. I love Russian literature and Russian history, but those tastes aren’t necessary to enjoy this book (although they add to the pleasure). The main character, Count Rostov, is a charming, witty, compassionate person whom it’s easy to fall in love with. The author’s writing is extremely entertaining, clever, amusing, and also often touching and thought-provoking. It’s the best modern novel I have read in many years.
I loved this book! It as a pleasure to spend time with the “gentleman”.
One of the best books I have ever read. What a treat.
The very best book that I read in the last two years. I read the book in 2019 and just finished listening to the audio version this past week. Loved it all over again.
Beautifully written historical fiction. I couldn’t put it down. The main character shows how a true gentleman acts in the face of adversity.
The second best novel ever written, right after Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
A Gentleman in Moscow is one of the most enjoyable, learned and delightful books I have ever read. Filled with charm, wit, sad and happy moments, wonderful aphorisms and brilliant truths, every page left me delighted and hungry for the next. To never see it end would have been my preference. But all good things must. (My little aphorism.)
The characters are rich with texture, heart and feeling. The story told by the Count from inside the Metropol brought illuminating lightness and life to Russia, challenging the hopelessness, sadness and despair so deeply revealed in Dostoevsky’s brilliant The Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot and Crime and Punishment.
I am reading this book for the second time. I loved this book.
I was engaged from the first page. I have recommended this book to many many people.
One of the best books I’ve read during this entire pandemic! Don’t miss reading about this Russian count that is sentenced to life in a hotel rather than the firing squad after the revolution. He learns to adapt to this life and in some ways thrive. I would even bet he was luckier to be in the hotel than waiting in bread lines like the rest of his “comrades” were faced with doing this time, (decades of socialism and the communism). This is a don’t miss book. Enjoyable and a good escape from our every day Covid lives.
One of the best books I have ever read!The count is my new superhero.He takes a potentially depressing situation and turns it into a totally mesmerizing story. My wife is now reading it because she listened to my chuckles and guffaws while we were reading before turning out the lights.
I hesitated to pick this up. For one thing, it appears to be forbiddingly literary. And forbiddingly Russian. But I got a discounted copy and took a chance. And I got to meet Count Rostov.
Alexander Rostov is not only an aristocrat, he (supposedly) wrote a dangerous poem. He was sentenced to life–inside a hotel. Through his eyes we see the Russian landscape change in the period immediately after the Revolution. And the count adapts, but he is sorely tried, and is pressed to the breaking point–but no spoilers here.
It’s a multi-layered novel, with ordinary life intertwined with politics and philosophy. I like how the author ends this tale, with as much skill as a gymnast ending her routine on both feet. There is some adult content, but nothing explicit, suitable for most. Highly recommended!
This magical story grabbed me from the first page until the last word. Towle’s skill is exceptional; I was heartbroken when the book ended, not because the story ended but, rather, because I would have no more opportunity to be mesmerized by the glorious use of language.
I really liked this book. So well written. I highly recommend it. Also read The Rules of Civility. Also very good. I’m waiting for Mr. Towels next book.
I ended up loving the Count and enjoyed seeing how his life at the Metropol evolved. It held my interest!
Lovely lyrical story telling