Had I read this book with a book club, I would have wanted to pick apart and discuss certain quotes in more depth. Towles’ writing is his ability to write such memorable quotes. Also, who can resist the glamorous 1930s fashion on the cover? The novel is full of the glitz and glamour of NYC that I love reading about, but isn’t without the hard realities of the world that add depth to a story.

It is about a young secretary on Wall Street trying to navigate life, love and NYC in 1938. Darcy - and this book was definitely unputdownable. Octo/ Heather C.I found this novel by Amor Towles on a list of 'unputdownable' books compiled by Modern Mrs. I loved listening to both of these in Audible audiobook format. Characters are based on Arshile Gorky and Helen Dryden, if you want to research those artists before reading or listening.īoth Rules of Civility and The Masterpiece are compelling stories of Jazz Age New York, filled with engaging and unique characters. It’s a fascinating story for anyone who loves the history of New York, modern art (especially abstract expressionism), or vintage fashion illustration. As Virginia learns to rely on herself, she also uncovers the secret world of the Grand Central Art School, which was housed in the train station nearly fifty years earlier and finds herself at the heart of the fight to retain Grand Central Station as a historical landmark. The Masterpiece, the most recent work by Fiona Davis, tells the story of Virginia Clay, a 1970s divorcee and breast cancer survivor who finds herself working at the information booth in Grand Central Station to support herself and her recent-college-dropout daughter. After listening twice on Audible, I still find myself wanting more. Towles’ work is delicate and complex - a world of wealth and beauty hanging by the thinnest of threads - and nobody is quite who they seem. As a young legal secretary in 1937 New York, Katey finds herself in a dramatic romantic triangle alongside her roommate, Indiana-born beauty Evelyn Ross, and a mysterious, WASPy young banker named Tinker Gray.

Rules of Civility tells the story of Katey Kontent, the orphaned daughter of Russian immigrant parents.

It’s delightful and tragic and it’s one of the few novels I’ve ever read in which a male author successfully writes through the lens of a female narrator. In fact, I listened to it for a second time last week, having first listened to it audiobook back in the spring, when I discovered author Amor Towles through his stunning novel A Gentleman in Moscow and immediately had to read his earlier work.) Rules of Civility is a smart, sophisticated, fast-paced novel of manners and social status in 1930s New York it reads like The Great Gatsby if Nick Carraway had actually been one of the bright young things, rather than a judgmental and detached observer.

Rules of civility author