By Amor Towles

This is the one that delayed my list last year as I was trying to finish it to include it. Amor wrote Rules of Civility (2011 list). Count Rostov is under house arrest at an elegant hotel in revolutionary Russia. There are certainly worse arrest situations! Tsarist Russia and the revolution fascinate me, so I especially enjoyed this book. It starts slow, but stick with it. The Count is a wonderful gentleman with whom to spend some time. The story tells of his various experiences living in such an odd situation and meeting the many people working and residing at the hotel. It moves through the changes in Russia over many years. For anyone who wants to explore this part of history more, I enthusiastically suggest the BBC show, Empire of the Tsars. Excellent!

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