A Gentleman In Moscow, Towles - A*

                                  This magnificent novel was voted book of the year by many a few years back and I thank my friends, Dennis and Catie Grindinger, for encouraging me to take it up. The gentleman of the title is Count Alexander Rostov, condemned by the Reds at the dawn of the USSR for being a gentleman to spend his life in the Metropol Hotel, of which he was so fond.  Even after his suite was taken away and he was reduced to an extremely modest room, he retained his aristocratic grace and poise and continued to enjoy life to its fullest. The Boyarsky Restaurant, once and maybe still, the finest east of Vienna was his daily home and source of great joy. Of course, when the Bolshies decided that the hundreds of thousands of bottles in the cellar needed to reflect the nation's new politics and had all the labels removed, leaving a choice of red or white, he was appalled, but accepting. As he meets and charms the many who pass through, including Nina, a nine year old girl, Anna, a famous actress, and Osip, a Red Army Colonel, we see through the wit and learn details of the tragedies that befell his family and his class. As he soldiers on through the years and in the late 20's starts helping out with the seating and waiting in the Boyarsky, we see the history of the USSR through the lens of the hotel. When the trials begin in the mid-30's, Nina returns and asks him to watch over her 5 year old daughter, Sofia, because she must follow her husband to Siberia. Nina is never heard from again and Rostov is now the guardian of a child, whom he raises to young womanhood. Sofia is brilliant, beautiful and the child of the entire staff of the Metropol. She excels at piano and joins the Moscow conservatory, which is scheduled to perform in Paris in the summer of 1954. The Count begins to dream and plot. He had returned from the City of Light when the Revolution  began and had been dreaming of it for decades. Escape is planned for him and Sofia; Paris for one and home for the other. Truly wonderful.