There’s a lot to love about this novel: the writing, the characters, the author’s knowledge of Russian history and literature. The premise behind the novel may seem a bit fantastical, but somehow Amor Towles makes me believe it and want it to be true. In 1922, fictional Count Alexander Rostov was brought before a Revolutionary court and found guilty of being an enemy of the people. Given his class, he might have been executed, but in 1913 Rostov had written poetry sympathetic to revolutionary ideals, and so the court sentences him to life imprisonment in the Metropol Hotel, a luxury accommodation where he had been living already. He may never leave the grounds; if he does he will be shot. Alexander Rostov, at the age of 30, is a “former person,” doomed to never again visit his favorite haunts. Yet Rostov is the kind of man who somehow is able to make the best of his situation. Over the next several decades, Rostov lives in the Metropol and experiences the history of the Soviet Union from within its exquisite walls. The Metropol, located on Theatre Square, attracts artists, foreigners, important government and party people, and journalists, to name a few. The Metropol is its own little world with its own population: the chef Emile, the maitre d’ Andrey, the seamstress Marina and others, who become part of Rostov’s circle. The Metropol is a privileged place, an oasis in the heart of Moscow, but it is not completely insulated from that which happens outside its doors.
Rostov, an aristocrat, is a man of habit who — even after having his living accommodations downgraded from his spacious rooms— manages to find contentment in his new routine: reading, lunching, getting a trim, drinks and dinner, etc. The hotel staff, with one exception, find him friendly and charming. But one day his routine is interrupted by a little girl named Nina, whose brief presence in his life will have enormous impact on it; she teaches him the secret ways of the hotel and challenges him in ways most adults do not. When she returns to the Metropol as an adult, during the Great Purges of the late 1930s, she will once again throw him off balance in the best possible way. He will ultimately find himself becoming “a man of intent,” a man who makes plans rather than a man content to observe and abide.
Reviewing this book is incredibly hard because there is so much about it that I love. Towles’ writing is charming, warm and witty, and the way he introduces characters and small tidbits of information that will come back around later is truly impressive. Nothing seems forced. As mentioned in my review title, this novel is an homage to the film Casablanca. Rostov and another character watch the movie together at the hotel, and as the novel progresses, the reader can see that there are parallels between that movie and things happening in Rostov’s life. I loved the way this novel ended. I am impressed by Towles’ knowledge of Soviet history and Russian literature and the way he weaves that knowledge into his narrative. I understand that the book is being made into a series starring Ewan McGregor, and I am curious to see how it turns out.
