Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Sceptre, 2011

Why?

I've had this on my Kindle for years, and, with Amor Towles the talk of the town following the Paramount+ adaptation of A Gentleman in Moscow, was prompted to give it a go.

Enjoyment factor

A strangely frustrating novel. The preface, describing a gallery opening attended by the great and the good in 1960s New York, is a beautifully written set piece, laying the table with intrigue and promise.

The story then goes back to 1938, following the characters in their twenties as they make their way in the city, both socially and professionally. Central to the story is Katey, a young woman whose parents are both dead, but who we learn has Russian origins - though this never assumes much relevance, apart from perhaps to illustrate the immigrant nature of New York.

As an orphan, Katey conveniently becomes a blank canvas, and proceeds to forge both a career (ultimately as a glossy magazine editor) and a social life, both of which we understand to be a long way from her background.

This all sounds promising, but the novel suffers from a lack of pace. In what reads like scenes from a stage play, Katey meets various different groups of characters, some of whom cross over, but the various characters feel thinly drawn and there's a lack of action.

It left me thinking ...

The title is taken from George Washington's Rules of Civility, a well-thumbed copy of which is kept by one of the key characters, with the implication that the book is about America and the possibility of being whoever you want to be - within a civilised framework. It's a neat premise, but for me it didn't quite hit home.

However, this was Towles's first novel, and there was enough there to encourage me to give Gentleman in Moscow a try.