A Gentleman in Moscow

In 1922 a Bolshevik tribunal declares Count Alexander Rostov an unrepentant aristocrat, and Amor Towles's second novel follows what comes next. Spared a death sentence, the Count is placed under house arrest for life in the Hotel Metropol near the Kremlin and moved out of his suite into a cramped attic room. As decades of upheaval unfold outside, he builds a circle of friends among the hotel's staff, residents and guests, among them Nina Kulikova, a curious nine-year-old fascinated by princesses. The chapters are set at doubling intervals from his arrest, a pattern that later reverses. Towles took the idea from a Geneva luxury hotel where some guests lived permanently, combined with Russia's long tradition of house arrest.

Bill Gates said he finally read it after his brother-in-law sent him a copy and found it fun, clever and surprisingly upbeat.