A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is a joyous read. It is literary work of the highest order. Compelling, readable, with a brilliantly crafted central character.

This is Count Alexander Rostov – a charismatic and endearing member of the Russian aristocracy at the time of the Bolshevik revolution when members of his class routinely faced a firing squad or a trip to Siberia. But the Count’s sentence is a lifetime of confinement in the grand surroundings of the Hotel Metropol, central Moscow.

The story is full of wit and humour, decency and kindness, and wonderful characters. Immediately we are introduced to the gracious and humorous Count, we know that a special relationship with him is about to follow and it holds us in a tight embrace right up to the very last page.