In five-ish words: sophisticated, entertaining, New York, haunted
I know a lot of people who say that Towles’ “Gentleman in Moscow” is their favorite book. I haven’t read it yet and have it on my TBR, somewhere middling in the middle. But then a co-host on my podcast recommended “Rules of Civility” for her “must read book” so this one rocketed straight to the top. I felt compelled to pick it up and I’m so glad I did! His writing is so clever and he paints such a clear portrait of Katey Kontent that I kept forgetting that this isn’t her memoir, but a fictional story written by a man.
This book is a romanticized view of New York combined with realistic glimpses into the the lives of a few players in the 1930s: a peer behind the facade and snapshots of the past. The story starts in the present, where our protagonist Katey is face with the literal faces of her past at an art show showcasing photographs from the 1930s. Her husband, though familiar with her social circle in her 20s, doesn’t know the whole story, and we are taken back in time as she reminisces about the friends she loved and lost along the way. She’s a witty and farely reliable narrator, though she holds her cards close the chest she is full of witticisms and keen observations of those around her, and even makes asides to the reader.
“As a quick aside, let me observe that in moments of high emotion….if the next thing you’re going to say makes you feel better, then it’s probably the wrong thing to say. This is one of the finer maxims that I’ve discovered in life. And you can have it, since it’s been of no use to me.”
It’s a story about the complicated lives of those with privilege, the small choices we make that determine the course of our lives, and the thirst for social climbing. It’s a messy story and leaves a lot of threads unfinished, which is really how life is: people come in and out of your life, and not everyone gets a happy ending.