Book Review: The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Title: The Rules of Civility
Author: Amor Towles
Enjoyment Rating: 8/10
Referral: This one kept popping up on recommendations from Amazon
Source: Audible for iPhone
Books I've read this year: 153

The best way to describe The Rules of Civility is The Great Gatsby, gone girl. Yes, the book is set 15 years later, and it's the Daisy/Gatsby figure (I can't decide which) who is actually from the midwest, while Katey Kontent, a secretary originally from Brighton Beach, who plays Nick Carroway's role as narrator, mostly benevolent social climber, and adjudicator. When the book opens in the 1960s, Katey and her husband are at a show for portraits taken during the 1930s. When Katey sees two portraits of her old friend, banker Tinker Grey, she launches into a reverie of the year they spent in the same orbit. The book deals with the complications of female friendship (Katey's best friend Evelyn tries to quash any budding relationship between Katey and Tinker by snatching him for herself), the social networks and mentoring relationships of the Upper East Side, and the ways that women could advance themselves socially and professionally in the 1930s.

The Rules of Civility is absolutely beautifully written, full of surprises, and I'm still thinking about Evie, Tinker, and Katey several weeks after finishing the book. It's the kind of book that makes me want to be a better writer, both in terms of the ability to use language and in the way Towles spins a story worth listening to.