In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.
Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.
Customer Review
Where has Count Alexander Rostov been all my life? A witty, insightful and immensely entertaining (read: funny) look at love, politics and life in the first half of the 20th century.
Staff Choice: Martijn
A delightful and sweet tale about a young Russian count who is condemned by the Communist party when they take over power in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. However, because of a deed done 10 years earlier, he is not sentenced to death but instead is imprisoned in a posh Moscovian hotel for the rest of his life.
Adventures ensue against a backdrop of the turbulent history of the USSR. The count is not a character you’re likely to forget; you’d gladly have him as a friend.
Staff Choice: Lynn
Although I had no idea what to expect by the title, so many friends' recommendations drew me to this book, which made me try to get the author here to visit in the Netherlands.
Masterful story set in 1922 when a Russian count is exiled to the hotel across the street, where he sets up a parallel reality with the inspiration of another hotel guest, an inquisitive little girl. It's a wonderful read!
