This book has been on my to-read pile for some time. I enjoyed The Lincoln Highway (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/2021/12/review-of-lincoln-highway-by-amor-towles.html) and loved A Gentleman in Moscow (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/2020/05/review-of-gentleman-in-moscow-by-amor.html) so decided I should finally read Towles’ debut novel.

The book begins in 1966 though most of it is a flashback to 1938. Middle-aged Katey Kontent attends a photographic exposition which transports her back to New Years Eve 1937 when she was 25 and met the man who appears in two of the photographs on exhibit. The book then describes a year (1938) in her life, a year which determines the direction of her life.

Katey and her free-spirited roommate Eve go to a jazz bar where they meet Tinker Grey, a handsome wealthy banker. This encounter propels her into the upper echelons of New York society where she is introduced to a world of Gatsbyesque parties, luxury residences, swanky clubs, and posh restaurants. In many ways, the book is a coming-of-age story as Katey makes new friends, experiences love and loss, advances her career, and learns much about the world.

Katey is a likable character, though sometimes she struck me as somewhat unbelievable. The daughter of a Russian immigrant, she is intelligent and ambitious and works hard. These traits get her noticed. Her insistence on independence is also noteworthy. She is well-read, though I was sometimes amazed at the extent of her knowledge of art and contemporary music. Very much middle-class, she knows the mannerisms of high society and easily manages to become accepted by the ultra-wealthy and powerful? All the men fall in love with her and all the women become her friends?

But I guess that’s one of the novel’s messages: the randomness of chance which sometimes determines the course of someone’s life. Looking back, Katey acknowledges that she was gifted choices: “To have even one year when you’re presented with choices that can alter your circumstances, your character, your course – that’s by the grace of God alone.”

Another theme is the importance of finding a purpose and maintaining integrity: “maintain some sense of direction, some sort of unerring course over seas tempest-tost.” The title of the book comes from George Washington’s rules of civility, the last of which is “Labour to keep alive in your Breast that Little Spark of Celestial fire Called Conscience.” Some people make various degrees of moral compromise, but Katy refuses monetary opportunities that would make her life easier but she would see as dishonourable. Eve draws her line in the sand: “’I’m willing to be under anything . . . as long as it isn’t somebody’s thumb.’” Sometimes it looks as if Eve is not living by that principle, but that impression proves to be incorrect. At the end, Tinker looks at the windows lit across New York but sees some specific windows “that seemed to burn a little brighter and more constant – the windows lit by those few who acted with poise and purpose.”

The other theme that stands out for me is that appearances can be deceiving. People can hide their true inner selves. People are like butterflies: “there are tens of thousands of butterflies: men and women . . . with two dramatically different colorings – one which serves to attract and the other which serves to camouflage – and which can be switched at the instant with a flit of the wings.” Based on what she sees, Katey makes assumptions about Tinker’s life that prove to be wrong. The inner lives of some characters are at odds with their initial appearance. For instance, Wallace Walcott is someone Katey almost dismisses until she gets to know him. Some people, especially the wealthy, tell lies, have ulterior motives, or use their money and influence to manipulate others’ lives. It’s interesting that the coat of arms of the exclusive Beresford apartment building where Tinker lives has a Latin motto “Fronta Nulla Fides“ or “place no trust in appearances.”

There is much I enjoyed: the snappy dialogue, the humour in the witty repartee, the beautifully rich prose, and the many literary allusions to other writers and books. I didn’t like this book as much as A Gentleman in Moscow, but It is nonetheless a great read.

Note: Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) for over a thousand reviews. ( )

LOVED. ( )

A great author. Everything flows and not a word is wasted. ( )

This was a fun read which was easy to follow, amusing characters and setting in Manhattan in 1938-39, all saved from being facile by lead character, Katey Konstant, her humor, her wit, her books and her fondness for a stiff drink and jazz. ( )

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS
(Print: 7/26/2011; 978-0143121169; Penguin Books; first edition; 352 pages)
Audio: 7/26/2011; 978-0307934536; Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group; duration 12:04:04 (10 parts).
(Film: In development).

CHARACTERS:
Katherine (Katey) Kontent- Native New Yorker
Evelyn (Eve) Ross- Young beauty from Iowa
Theodore (Tinker) Grey – Young man from River Falls
Henry (Hank) Grey- (Tinker’s brother)
Wallace Wolcott-Young man of New York’s social upper echelon
Dicky Vanderwhile-Young man of New York’s social upper echelon
Anne Grandyn-Introduced as Tinker’s Godmother.
Bitsy Houghton-Young woman who is an old friend of Wallace’s

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
I snatched this from Overdrive’s audio files of books, having loved the authors more recent book, “A Gentleman in Moscow”, despite the presence of other books that had come available to me after long holds.
This is the author’s debut novel.
With cornerstones the likes of Charles Dicken’s “Great Expectations,” Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden”, and George Washington’s “Rules of Civility” serving as philosophical references, this book depicts the stratification and structure of society . . . and lives.
At its center is young, intelligent and witty Katey Kontent. A bookworm at heart, she can nevertheless paint the town (Manhattan) with the best of them, which includes her roommate/best friend, Eve. While making her way in the world, Katey makes friends readily with members of any social class, but is not the social climber that Eve seems to be. Conversational exchanges between characters are witty with sparks of profundity that provide many a psychological insight to characters, while subtly dispensing life advice to readers.
I will be watching for more novels by this author!

AUTHOR:
Amor Towles (1964). According to Penguin Random House Publishers, Towles was “Born and raised in the Boston area, Amor Towles graduated from Yale University and received an MA in English from Stanford University. His first novel, Rules of Civility, published in 2011, was a New York Times bestseller and was named by The Wall Street Journal as one of the best books of 2011. His second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, published in 2016, was also a New York Times bestseller and was named as one of the best books of 2016 by the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR. His work has been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Having worked as an investment professional for more than twenty years, Mr. Towles now devotes himself full time to writing in Manhattan, where he lives with his wife and two children.. . . [he] is an ardent fan of early 20th century painting, 1950’s jazz, 1970’s cop shows, rock & roll on vinyl, obsolete accessories, manifestoes, breakfast pastries, pasta, liquor, snow-days, Tuscany, Province, Disneyland, Hollywood, the cast of Casablanca, 007, Captain Kirk, Bob Dylan, (early, mid, and late phases), the wee hours, card games, cafes, and the cookies made by both of his grandmothers.”
As I mentioned, I intend to follow this author.

NARRATOR:
Rebecca Lowman (2/25/1970). According to IMDb, “Rebecca Lowman was born on February 25, 1970 in Springfield, Illinois, USA. She is an actress, known for Eve of Understanding (2006), CSI: NY (2004) and The Onion Movie (2008).”
I’ve been treated to this reader’s narration somewhat recently before with “Fangirl”.
Her performance here is perfect!

GENRE:
Psychological Literary Fiction, U.S. Historical Fiction

LOCATIONS:
New York City, Manhattan

TIME FRAME
Primarily 1938; 1930’s – early 1940’s; 1966.

SUBJECTS:
Fiction; Sociology; Friendship; Young women; Upper class; New York; 1930’s

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From “Abandon Every Hope”
"The jockey wasn’t wearing one of those brightly colored checkered outfits that helps the track pretend it’s festive. He was wearing a brown jumpsuit like a diminutive garage mechanic. As he walked the horse from the paddock out onto the track, steam rose from the horse’s nostrils. In the stillness, you could hear it whinny from five hundred feet. The jockey talked briefly to a man with a pipe (presumably the trainer) and then swung onto the horse’s back. A hush fell. Without the shot of a gun, horse and rider took off.
The sound of the horse’s hooves drifted up into the stands in muffled rhythm as clods of turf were kicked in the air. The jockey seemed to take the first lengths at an easy pace, holding his head above the horse’s. But at the second turn he urged the animal on. He drew his elbows inward and squeezed his thighs around the horse’s barrel. He tucked the side of his face against its neck so that he could whisper encouragements. The horse responded. Though it was getting farther away, you could tell it was running faster, thrusting its muzzle forward and drumming the ground with rhythmic precision. It turned the far corner and the beat of its hooves grew closer, louder, faster. Until it bolted through the imaginary finish line.
--That’s Pasteurized, Grubb said. The favorite.”

RATING:
5 stars. I enjoy this author's command of English and the depth of his characters.

STARTED-FINISHED 1/29/21-2/4/21

P.S. 3/16/24. After having gone to a book signing presentation at the (Costa Mesa, California) Segerstrum Concert Hall, I have listened to this again, this time with my husband, as the author promises to allude to this story again in his soon to be released (April 2024) collection of short stories. This second listening had me wondering how I could have forgotten so much about the plot, and feeling that I'd understood much more about it, and gotten much more out of the "reading" the second time around. ( )