Author: Amor Towles.
Set in the backdrop of Manhattan, NewYork in 1937, a few years after the great depression, Amor Towles gives us a tour of the upper circles of Newyork through his dreamy heroine Katey Kontent aka Katya, a Russian immigrant, whose father moved to Brooklyn years ago. On the brink of the world war and still recovering from the depression, Manhattan is still on a delicate verge in the world economy.
The story runs more from a flashback point of view from an older woman, who chances upon a picture of one of her own flings in a museum in 1966. The story rewinds back to 1937 Christmas Eve when Katey meets the man who topples her life upside down, Theodore aka Tinker Grey. Katey, who works as a secretary in a law firm, is happy spending her new year eve buying cocktails in a local hotspot with her best friend and roommate Eve Ross.
But serendipity, or so they think, has them meet Tinker Grey that night, a man from the glamorous elite of the New York City. Tinker with his cashmere coat, gold plated lighters, and his perfect gentlemanly behavior sweeps the two ladies away with his charms.
The encounter alters the lives of all the three. Katey is heavily impressed with the enigmatic Tinker, who works hard for a bank and lives his life by the rules of George Washington's "Rules of Civility". Tinker is a perfect gentleman, and to top, it all, attracted towards Katey, or so she thinks.
But Eve walks away with the prize because of a freak accident one night when they were all riding in Tinker's car after crashing into a party. Eve is heavily injured and Tinker is obliged to take care of her in his plush apartment. Proximity works its charms and Eve uses both the closeness and Tinker's guilt to her advantage.
Longing for what she could not get, Katey falls for Tinker. And she steps into the tinsel town by befriending the socialites from the upper circle of the New York Society. She canters through parties mainly to hear grapevine between Eve and Tinker. She quits her job and joins Gotham, a magazine dedicated to the juicy gossip of the New York glitterati. Over a period of time, she meets Tinker's Godmother Anne, who was instrumental in paving his career, a business tycoon and a shooting expert, Wallace Wolcott, whom she helps organize his affairs and Dicky Vanderwhile, whom she tries to romantically connect with. Her life, raised on a principle to appreciate simple things, is suddenly turned topsy turvy to step into a world of luxuries.
Katey keeps having numerous chance encounters with Tinker and tries to make her impression on his lifestyle and his perfect manners. But nothing prepares her for the ugly truth which reveals itself amidst the glittery stardom and plush carpets.
Going by the proverb, "It's the Journey, not the destination which matters". We, as readers, along with Katey, take the rollercoaster ride through the eclectic circles of New York life. Starting from local train rides to early morning racecourse strategies, to the late-night limousine rides, pub hopping, the boxing rituals, the cozy coffee corners, the juicy gossip of the paparazzi, the cultural museum visits, the chance encounters with the literati, one gets a good tour of New York in the late 1930s.
The author has left no loose ends tying the lives of the main protagonists together. The story moves in a brisk pace, and when you are reading about one, somewhere in the back of your mind, you keep thinking about what happened to another. The reader hopelessly waits for Tinker and Katey to meet and relish their brief yet deep conversations. The helplessness on either side is so subtly derived and finally as Katey gathers all the courage, and we readers, gather hope, there is this unpleasant twist in the name of harsh reality.
Something else very unique about Towles' writing style is he does not use the quotes for the conversations. He starts the dialogue with a hyphen and leaves it to the reader to determine who is saying what. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and looking forward to reading more from the author.
I end the review with one of the Rules of Civility
"Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience."
Conscience, a funny word, you would think when you finish the book, but definitely, not debatable.
Set in the backdrop of Manhattan, NewYork in 1937, a few years after the great depression, Amor Towles gives us a tour of the upper circles of Newyork through his dreamy heroine Katey Kontent aka Katya, a Russian immigrant, whose father moved to Brooklyn years ago. On the brink of the world war and still recovering from the depression, Manhattan is still on a delicate verge in the world economy.
The story runs more from a flashback point of view from an older woman, who chances upon a picture of one of her own flings in a museum in 1966. The story rewinds back to 1937 Christmas Eve when Katey meets the man who topples her life upside down, Theodore aka Tinker Grey. Katey, who works as a secretary in a law firm, is happy spending her new year eve buying cocktails in a local hotspot with her best friend and roommate Eve Ross.
But serendipity, or so they think, has them meet Tinker Grey that night, a man from the glamorous elite of the New York City. Tinker with his cashmere coat, gold plated lighters, and his perfect gentlemanly behavior sweeps the two ladies away with his charms.
The encounter alters the lives of all the three. Katey is heavily impressed with the enigmatic Tinker, who works hard for a bank and lives his life by the rules of George Washington's "Rules of Civility". Tinker is a perfect gentleman, and to top, it all, attracted towards Katey, or so she thinks.
But Eve walks away with the prize because of a freak accident one night when they were all riding in Tinker's car after crashing into a party. Eve is heavily injured and Tinker is obliged to take care of her in his plush apartment. Proximity works its charms and Eve uses both the closeness and Tinker's guilt to her advantage.
Longing for what she could not get, Katey falls for Tinker. And she steps into the tinsel town by befriending the socialites from the upper circle of the New York Society. She canters through parties mainly to hear grapevine between Eve and Tinker. She quits her job and joins Gotham, a magazine dedicated to the juicy gossip of the New York glitterati. Over a period of time, she meets Tinker's Godmother Anne, who was instrumental in paving his career, a business tycoon and a shooting expert, Wallace Wolcott, whom she helps organize his affairs and Dicky Vanderwhile, whom she tries to romantically connect with. Her life, raised on a principle to appreciate simple things, is suddenly turned topsy turvy to step into a world of luxuries.
Katey keeps having numerous chance encounters with Tinker and tries to make her impression on his lifestyle and his perfect manners. But nothing prepares her for the ugly truth which reveals itself amidst the glittery stardom and plush carpets.
Going by the proverb, "It's the Journey, not the destination which matters". We, as readers, along with Katey, take the rollercoaster ride through the eclectic circles of New York life. Starting from local train rides to early morning racecourse strategies, to the late-night limousine rides, pub hopping, the boxing rituals, the cozy coffee corners, the juicy gossip of the paparazzi, the cultural museum visits, the chance encounters with the literati, one gets a good tour of New York in the late 1930s.
The author has left no loose ends tying the lives of the main protagonists together. The story moves in a brisk pace, and when you are reading about one, somewhere in the back of your mind, you keep thinking about what happened to another. The reader hopelessly waits for Tinker and Katey to meet and relish their brief yet deep conversations. The helplessness on either side is so subtly derived and finally as Katey gathers all the courage, and we readers, gather hope, there is this unpleasant twist in the name of harsh reality.
Something else very unique about Towles' writing style is he does not use the quotes for the conversations. He starts the dialogue with a hyphen and leaves it to the reader to determine who is saying what. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and looking forward to reading more from the author.
I end the review with one of the Rules of Civility
"Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience."
Conscience, a funny word, you would think when you finish the book, but definitely, not debatable.
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