A Gentleman in Moscow

By Amor Towels

Review by Shahnaz

This book is a very delightful, cosmopolitan oriented story, which is well-researched and written by an artful author. The main character of the book observes the changes in the history of the Russian revolution, the adaptation of its people and politics to the new rules as well as changes in his own circumstances by being confined to one building (having a room in a hotel with no permission to get out).

He was raised as an aristocrat and had to move down to the life of the common society of Bolshevik Russia. His life and historical changes happen as you read the book, which satisfies all of your senses. If you are a foodie, it will exhaust your imagination of food and its ingredients, different wines and spices (I almost could smell the aroma, the way that it was described by the author).

It also satisfies your visual senses of art, paintings, and architecture, hearing of composers of the world, poets, and authors; if one tends to like more of life’s philosophy, with quotes from different authors about human expressions of love and friendship, sympathy and sorrow. Relations between people that were not possible under the old regime of life happen to the main character of the book, as he has to adjust to the new environment without losing his principles to the occasion. The book is written with so much detail that readers can imagine it happening in front of them as they read.