A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles (fic)

I loved this book.  It was a delightful read.  The world today is stressful and we read many books which deal with important and pressing world issues.  It was such a pleasure to read a well-written book that places us in a bygone world when being a gentleman in the old sense of the word meant treating others with respect and taking responsibility.

The story opens in Moscow in 1922 and the Gentleman of the title is Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, a Russian noble who is in a spot of trouble for some anti-Bolshevik poetry he had written.  He manages to escape death because he was a well-respected hero of the 1917 uprising.  At the time of his trial he had been living in a luxurious suite of rooms in the famous Hotel Metropol located in Theater Square across from the Bolshoi Theater.  Escaping a more severe punishment, the Count was condemned to living the rest of his life in the hotel without being allowed to leave.  He was hustled out of his former apartment and placed on the unused sixth floor in a very small room.  Being resourceful and never a complainer, Rostov soon set about making himself comfortable in his deserted surroundings.

The hotel becomes Rostov's world and that world soon revolves around him.  The charming old dignified hotel suits him perfectly with it barbershop, tailor, flower shop and a top notch restaurant, the Boyarsky, frequented by the masters of the revolution.  The Shalyapin bar, where each evening the Count has his after-dinner drink, is a place of dark intrigue where shady deals are conducted. And  it isn't long before the employees of the hotel who previously waited on him, become devoted friends.  He meets a wonderful little girl named Nina who reminds one of Eloise of Plaza fame.  There are flashbacks to the family estate in Nizhny Novgorod that becomes important later in the story.  He begins an affair with a famous actress, also an important character in the book.

We follow the Count's adventures through five decades, he never flags in his devotion to his country. Nina grows up and has her own adventures.  She gives the Count a precious gift that determines the path his life eventually takes.  His best friend Mishka, helps him out several scrapes, and an American diplomat becomes a valuable and lifelong friend.  All the while the world outside of the hotel continues on its course with Russian leaders rising and falling.  Wars take place and yet the grand old hotel survives, a monument to a passing age.

You might think this book is light reading, but there are deeper themes hidden beneath the surface of the story: war, deprivation, man's inhumanity and humanity, compassion, and always a love of country and romance.  Along the way Count Rostov realizes he is the luckiest man in Russia.
I recommend this book to all readers who enjoy good story telling and fine writing.  I'm sure it will remain one of my favorite books of the year.