A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

I finished reading my second book of the year, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. And what a great book it is!

It tells the story of Alexander Rostov, a Russian count who, in the early 1920s, is accused of writing a poem with anti-Russian sentiment. As a result, he is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow for the rest of his life. He is told that if he steps out of the Metropol, he will be shot on sight.

This beautifully written novel is filled with fascinating characters that the count meets throughout his forced stay in the hotel. These interactions result in a lot of intriguing and unexpected twists and turns. The scenes are described very vividly and I felt like I was transported to Russia and the Metropol hotel as I continued to read. I guess it helped that I had been to some of the places being described, such as the Kremlin, Red Square, and Arbat Street. I actually remember seeing the Metropol Hotel when I visited the Bolshoi Theatre.

I also loved the tone of the book. Despite the fact that a very politically-charged time and environment resulted in the count's house arrest, the story was (mostly) light and engaging, making the book very engaging yet easy to read (I found it easy to pick things up from where I left off whenever I stopped reading for a while). The ending of the book was especially riveting since I didn't see it coming at all!

This novel was given to me as a gift by my friends a few years ago for my birthday. They asked me for my wish list and I chose it because I had been to Russia and to Moscow so I felt I would end up connecting well with it (I did). It also seems to be pretty popular because when I posted about it on social media, I discovered that some of my friends have read it and they all agree that it's really good. In fact, one of them said it was one of her favorites! A Gentleman in Moscow is really highly recommended, even if you haven't been to Moscow or to Russia.

*****

EDITED: I can't believe it! I posted about this book on Instagram and Amor Towles, the author, liked my post! I'm so happy!