(And by the way, I bought this book with my own money - no free review copies here - at Bookworks in Kalispell, Montana. But Katey won’t mind if you pour champagne instead.Īmor Towles’ website - which looks like a drawing of the Manhattan skyline - includes an excerpt and a reading guide. Warning: even if, like me, you don’t like gin, you may crave a martini while you read. It won’t take long–the book’s a page-turner–and you’ll have a grand time. And two influential older people as well: the devious and insightful Anne Grandyn and the exacting Mason Tate. Set in New York City in 1938, Rules of Civility tells the story of a watershed year in the life of an uncompromising twenty-five-year-old named Katey Kontent. Impossibly glamorous, RULES OF CIVILITY takes in 1930s New York with a dry martini and a side order of sharp-tongued wit. For Katey Kontent, a 23-year-old orphan, American-born of Russian immigrant parents, it’s 1938 in Manhattan–the year she meets four extraordinary people also in their 20s: Tinker Grey, rags to riches and back Eve Ross, opportunistic, ambitious, daring the charming Dickie Vanderwhile and the unforgettable sweet, solid Wallace Wolcott. A sophisticated and entertaining debut novel about an irresistible young woman with an uncommon sense of purpose. That sets the course for who one will be. The premise of this stunning book is that in many lives, there is a particular year that changes everything.

Any questions about what readers and reviewers mean by voice in a book? Read Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (Penguin Books, 2011, now out in paper), and all will be revealed.

Amor towles the rules of civility