Those Goldster members who have been with us since 2020, will remember that one of our earliest Book Club discussions was about Amor Towles’s novel A Gentleman in Moscow. Four years on we are returning to discussing the work of this masterful modern writer.
Rules of Civility was Towles’s debut novel, set in New York City in 1938. It follows the story of a watershed year in the life of an uncompromising twenty-five-year-old, who has the fabulous name of Katey Kontent. The Daily Telegraph reviewer commented “A cross between Dorothy Parker and Holly Golightly, Katey Kontent is a priceless narrator in her own right – the brains of a bluestocking with the legs of a flapper and the mores of Carrie Bradshaw”.
The story begins at New Year in a Greenwich Village jazz bar, where Katey and her roommate Eve meet Tinker Grey, a handsome banker with vivid blue eyes and a winning smile. This chance encounter barrels both young women into a dramatic, rollercoaster of a year, encountering changes neither of them could have imagined just a few weeks earlier. Katey, who is one of Towles’s most endearing characters, embarks on a journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool through the upper echelons of New York society in search of a brighter future.
Goldster Magazine Book Club events are open to all, whether you’ve had the chance to read the book or not. These events are not recorded, everyone is unmuted and everyone gets the chance to meet other Goldster members. Join Lucinda and fellow Goldster members at 1pm on Tuesday 29 October.