Rules of Civility

I must admit, when I started this book, I'd forgotten why I'd bought it, or how it had been recommended to me. Didn't matter. It was brilliant. So much so, I found myself rationing the time spent reading it. The writing is superb - almost as if I'd tasted fine wine - and thus certainly to be savoured. The plot is well structured, and the characters well-drawn, although none were terribly appealing people. That's usually important for me - I do pretty much have to like the main figures in a novel - but for once, it didn't matter. Partly because we have, at last, an authentically-depicted strong female at the centre of the narrative. The setting is also very realistic - New York in the 1930s beautifully evoked. And yes, I was desperate for a Martini!

I've struggled through this book with no clearer idea what it's about or why. I came to it via Gentleman of Moscow, which I absolutely loved. This earlier book couldn't be more different. The main character lacks depth and definition, despite both being central to the story's believability. So you're left feeling bewildered by events and with a sense that the plot - such as it is - crashes gears rather than smoothly proceeds. The main character feels like a cypher onto which the author sticks and hangs ideas and storylines.Apart from the mechanics of plot and character, the writing, as with the later book, is beautiful - stylish, descriptive and fresh. That kept me reading. But ultimately the holes in the book - character, plot, structure - left me feeling very disappointed.

Another beautiful book from Amor, of a world lost to us now, but one that spoke of society not so very long ago, where folks were not offended by gender but had morals about what was and was not acceptable behaviours. There is sadness in this story and I still wonder about what happened to some of the characters, as in all reality, this little group split up and their stories took different roads, but just briefly, we are invited to glimpse a year in the life of the fun and trendy 30's! Thank you Amor for keeping history alive in such a majestic way. I hope you write more stories like this.

I'd been recommended this book by a few people which is why I decided to buy it. When it arrived though I remembered that I had tried to read it a few years ago and given up - hopefully it would be different this time.324 pages and 26 chapters. The book is set predominantly in 1930s New York with young women having their first city experiences.First thing to note is the strange font used on the version I read. It is a light font which seems to have been chosen to fit the period but I found it took a while for me to get used to it.This time I've read much more of the book than last time but still didn't enjoy it. The plot is unclear and confusing with characters who never seem to have any depth or development - I came away wanting to know more about them.The element that the author captures beautifully is the setting which stopped me putting the book down. New York is shown to be exciting and you can't help but be thrilled by the various adventures. The problem is that the characters and plot are not strong enough for the wonderful setting and the result is an unbalanced book.

I bought this book because it had been written by Amor Towles, who wrote A Gentleman in Moscow, which I can honestly say is one of the best books I have read in a very, very long time. So, tough competition. This story is really great, but not as good and unique as AGIM. It is probably wrong to compare like that, but it is impossible not to. If you want to read Amor Towles, then read this one ROC first, because it will be hard for other books to compete with AGIM. Thus the 4 stars