Description

OVER 4 MILLION COPIES SOLD

A Showtime/Paramount+ series starring Ewan McGregor as Count Alexander Rostov

From the number one New York Times-bestselling author, a beautifully transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel

‘A wonderful book’ – Tana French

‘This novel is astonishing, uplifting and wise. Don’t miss it’ – Chris Cleave

‘No historical novel this year was more witty, insightful or original’ – Sunday Times, Books of the Year

‘[A] supremely uplifting novel … It’s elegant, witty and delightful – much like the Count himself.’ – Mail on Sunday, Books of the Year

‘Charming … shows that not all books about Russian aristocrats have to be full of doom and nihilism’ – The Times, Books of the Year

On 21 June 1922, Count Alexander Rostov – recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt – is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol.

Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. But instead of his usual suite, he must now live in an attic room while Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval.

Can a life without luxury be the richest of all?

A BOOK OF THE DECADE, 2010-2020 (INDEPENDENT)
THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
A MAIL ON SUNDAY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
A DAILY EXPRESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S BEST BOOKS OF 2017
ONE OF BILL GATES’S SUMMER READS OF 2019
NOMINATED FOR THE 2018 INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS WEEK AWARD
‘A wonderful book’ – Tana French

‘This novel is astonishing, uplifting and wise. Don’t miss it’ – Chris Cleave

‘No historical novel this year was more witty, insightful or original’ – Sunday Times, Books of the Year

‘[A] supremely uplifting novel … It’s elegant, witty and delightful – much like the Count himself.’ – Mail on Sunday, Books of the Year

‘Charming … shows that not all books about Russian aristocrats have to be full of doom and nihilism’ – The Times, Books of the Year

On 21 June 1922, Count Alexander Rostov – recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt – is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol.

Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. But instead of his usual suite, he must now live in an attic room while Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval.

Can a life without luxury be the richest of all?

A BOOK OF THE DECADE, 2010-2020 (INDEPENDENT)
THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
A MAIL ON SUNDAY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
A DAILY EXPRESS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA’S BEST BOOKS OF 2017
ONE OF BILL GATES’S SUMMER READS OF 2019
NOMINATED FOR THE 2018 INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS WEEK AWARD

Publisher Review

"A comic masterpiece . . . very funny, tender and as laughably accurate an account of the dismal nature of life in Soviet Russia as one could hope for . . . Quite apart from the ingeniously ludicrous plot and the acutely drawn characters, what adds to the joy of this book is the precision of Towles' style. Again and again he conveys exactly the right impression with a deliciously surprising choice of words . . . a sheer delight." -- William Hartson * Daily Express * "A work of great charm, intelligence and insight." -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times * "Elegant sentences, wonderful characters and inventive storytelling . . . This is everything a novel should be: charming, witty, poetic and generous. An absolute delight." * Mail on Sunday * "I think the world feels so disordered right now. The count's refinement and genteel nature are exactly what we're longing for. His world was also in shambles but he maintained his grace and humor." -- Ann Patchett "There is so, so much to love in this book as we keep company with the endlessly entertaining Count . . .[This] novel is wistful, whimsical and wry and elegantly captures that most apposite of lessons: 'By the smallest of one's actions, one can restore some sense of order to the world'. Brilliant" -- Eithne Farry * Sunday Express *