A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Jim recommended this book to me a while back, and he never recommends fiction. His recommendation was well-merited. This is a simply amazing book. The plot involves a Russian aristocrat who is sentenced to house arrest at a Moscow hotel. But the book is so much more than that. It chronicles the massive societal change from the Russian monarchy to post-Stalin Soviet Union. It is a commentary on life and the twists it can take. It deals with love and loyalty and sacrifice. It addresses the complexity of friendship. And it is an intricately plotted and lyrically written book. All of these sentences accurately describe the book, and yet none of them do. All I can say is I rarely give five stars to a book, and I didn’t even hesitate after reading this one. If you haven’t read this book yet, you are missing out (and at 500 pages, it’s an excellent quarantine read!).



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