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Author: Amor Towles, 2011.
Genre: Period Fiction. 1930s USA. Relationship Drama.
Other Details: Paperback. 342 pages.
This was a delightful novel: sparkling, sophisticated and intelligent with a real feel for its late 1930s NYC setting.
The novel's narrator, twenty-five year old Katey Kontent, is a charming and witty protagonist, passionate about making it on her own. She had grown up in Brooklyn as 'Katya' but on moving to Manhattan she changes her name to 'Katey', aspiring for inclusion among Manhattan's smart set. We are first introduced to her in 1966 as she and her husband visit a photographic exhibition by Walker Evans at MoMA of the series of photographs he had taken on the New York City subway in 1938 with a hidden camera. Two of the images stir a memory in Katey and we are then taken back in time to New Year's Eve in 1937 as Katey and her room-mate Evie see in the New Year at a Greenwich Village bar. A chance meeting with Tinker Grey, an affluent young banker, changes the course of their lives.
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At first glance this might well appear to be a slice of period chick-lit with its emphasis upon the fashion, gossip and the antics of the young darlings of Manhattan's Upper East-Side, a Gossip Girl circa 1938. However, it is one of those novels that on reflection has a number of layers, examining the nature of friendship and love as well as the role played by chance in our lives.
I didn't have any particular expectations for it when it was selected for one of my reading groups and so was delighted when it proved such a rich read. Within the group it drew favourable comparisons with modern classics such as The Great Gatsby. I loved it from the start and was impressed with how well Towles had woven his story, characters and setting. I find that I did prefer the USA edition's more atmospheric cover and though I read a library copy decided when ordering my own copy to opt for the imported paperback.
Amor Towles' page on 'The Rules of Civility' - includes links to excerpt, podcast, Q&A and reading guide.
