Gentleman in Moscow

From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility comes a transporting novel about Count Alexander Rostov, ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel. In 1922, deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, he is placed under house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across from the Kremlin. Rostov, an erudite and witty man who has never worked a day in his life, must adapt to life in an attic room while Russia’s turbulent decades unfold outside. The reduced circumstances become a doorway into a larger world of emotional discovery, humor, and companionship. The book captures a richly drawn era with atmosphere and style, and reveals what it means to live with purpose.

Amor Towles, the author of Rules of Civility, crafts a story brimming with humor and a glittering cast of characters, as Rostov’s journey unfolds across decades of change outside the hotel doors. NPR praised Towles for grace and verve in exploring mores and manners on the cusp of radical change, and this novel continues that tradition of absorbing, sophisticated fiction.

• Protagonist: Count Alexander Rostov, aristocrat under house arrest
• Setting: the Metropol Hotel, against turbulent 20th-century Russia
• Tone: witty, erudite, and richly atmospheric
• Themes: purpose, humanity, and emotional discovery
• Length and format: 512 pages, paperback edition
• Author: Amor Towles, continuing the style established in Rules of Civility