Book review: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

During one of Victoria’s many lockdowns, A Gentleman in Moscow provided a vision of a different kind of lockdown.

And it was refreshing to read about a man dealing with his confinement with more cheer and positivity than I sometimes felt sitting down to home school my three children.

Towles’ novel centres on a man who has been sentenced to house imprisonment at a large hotel in Moscow. He is moved from his sumptuous and spacious living space to a tiny room in the staff quarters.

However, he is pleased to see that he has a view of the opera house nearby from his small window, and he can continue to eat in the restaurants downstairs.

It was a pleasure to read about the simple, comforting habits he developed and the friendships he made, despite his restricted movement.

Somehow, this book was exactly the right novel for a time when I was itching to get out and about and experience more. Towles showed me that it is ok to live within my four walls and find happiness and contentment, despite the uncertainty outside.