A Gentleman in Moscow

Chief protagonist Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia on 24 October 1889. He grew up on the Rostov Estate "Idlehour" in Nizhny Novgorod. His godfather was his father's comrade in arms in the cavalry, the Grand Duke Demidov. When the Count's parents died of cholera within hours of each other in 1900, the Grand Duke Demidov became the eleven-year-old Count's guardian and counseled him to be strong for his sister, since "...adversity presents itself in many forms, and if a man does not master his circumstances, then he is bound to be mastered by them." The young count was devoted to his sister, Helena, and the Rostov siblings made social visits to nearby estates, even in mid-winter, traveling by horse-drawn troika or sleigh.

As a young man, the count was sent out of the country (as was the custom at the time) by his grandmother for wounding his sister's suitor, a cad who broke Helena's heart. Returning home from Paris after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, the Count was arrested.

Inspiration for the novel germinated from Towles's experience of staying at luxury hotels. While at a hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, Towles discovered some people actually lived there. Towles combined the idea of luxury hotels with his knowledge of Russia's history, and how house arrest has been commonplace there for hundreds of years. [3] The novel concerns Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, a man ordered by a Bolshevik tribunal to spend the rest of his life in a luxury hotel in the heart of Moscow.[4]

Towles's methodology in A Gentleman in Moscow was described as a "gorgeous sleight of hand" by The New York Times, which continues "Towles is a craftsman. What saves the book is the gorgeous sleight of hand that draws it to a satisfying end, and the way he chooses themes that run deeper than mere sociopolitical commentary: parental duty, friendship, romance, the call of home. Human beings, after all, 'deserve not only our consideration but our reconsideration' — even those from the leisured class. Who will save Rostov from the intrusions of the state if not the seamstresses, chefs, bartenders, and doormen? In the end, Towles's greatest narrative effect is not the moments of wonder and synchronicity but the free transformation of these peripheral workers, over decades, into confidants, equals, and, finally, friends. With them around, a life sentence in these gilded halls might make Rostov the luckiest man in Russia."[5]

This book is a testament to the idea enunciated in the book that "...adversity presents itself in many forms, and if a man does not master his circumstances, then he is bound to be mastered by them."[6]

At the review aggregator website Book Marks, which assigns individual ratings to book reviews from mainstream literary critics, the novel received a cumulative "Positive" rating based on 11 reviews: 3 "Rave" reviews, 5 "Positive" reviews, and 3 "Mixed" reviews.[7] Kirkus Reviews found the book "In all ways a great novel, a nonstop pleasure brimming with charm, personal wisdom, and philosophic insight. This book more than fulfills the promise of Towles' stylish debut, Rules of Civility."[8] While NPR opined, "A Gentleman in Moscow is a novel that aims to charm ... and the result is a winning, stylish novel that keeps things easy. Flair is always the goal — Towles never lets anyone merely say goodbye when they could bid adieu, never puts a period where an exclamation point or dramatic ellipsis could stand."[9]

A Gentleman in Moscow was a finalist for the 2016 Kirkus Prize in Fiction & Literature.[10] The book was also an International Dublin Literary Award Nominee (2018 longlist).[11]

The audiobook narrated by Nicholas Guy Smith won AudioFile magazine's Earphone's Award for 2016.[12]

• Towles, Amor (2011). Rules of Civility. Waterville, ME: Thorndike Press. ISBN 978-1-4104-4324-3.