The Thread's Must-Read
"A Gentleman in Moscow"by Amor Towles
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A few months ago, I asked passionate readers on Twitter for the book they had shared most often this year — the book that was so uniquely fulfilling, they wanted to press it into the hands of their favorite friends.
Two readers suggested “A Gentleman in Moscow.” Last week, I finally found time to see what all the raves were about.
Published last fall, Amor Towles tells the story of an erudite Russian aristocrat who is deemed by a Bolshevik tribunal to be a “former person.” Most people in that situation would have faced a firing squad in 1920s Russia, but Count Alexander Rostov has powerful friends, so he ends up sentenced to lifelong house arrest in the Hotel Metropol instead.
With nothing but time on his hands, the Count reads widely, befriends the hotel’s staff and embarks on some delightful capers. He also spends time pondering the meaning of loyalty and love and justice in a moment of such political upheaval.
“A Gentleman in Moscow” is a deceptively quiet novel, yet unexpectedly light and airy. Over the course of the novel, this “former person” becomes a fully realized human as he delves into his own emotional interior.
-Kerri Miller
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