Historical Fiction · Free kit
A Gentleman in Moscow
In June 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is spared a firing squad and sentenced to spend the rest of his life inside Moscow's Hotel Metropol. Moved from a grand suite to a servant's attic, he watches a century arrive through revolving doors, kitchens, and a child who was only supposed to stay a month. Amor Towles's novel is witty, lavish, and unexpectedly tender: a story about making a life in reduced rooms, and whether courtesy is resistance — or a beautiful way to look away.
“If a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them.”
Complete free book club kit
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Plan your meeting
A Gentleman in Moscow Hosting Guide
A free, printable-minded plan for hosting A Gentleman in Moscow.
Invite hook
“A count in an attic, a passkey, a hotel that thinks it is a country, and thirty-two years of making a life in reduced rooms. Come talk about A Gentleman in Moscow — bring a strong opinion about manners.”
The question you’re arguing about: If your world shrank to one beautiful building, would you master the rooms — or spend the whole time planning the door?
Shopping list
- □A small jar of honey for the table (the roof hives are why the Count stays in the story)
- □Blini or thin pancakes with jam and sour cream — Metropol breakfast, not a palace banquet
- □Black bread, pickles, cucumber, and a simple beet salad
- □Cabbage or mushroom pirozhki (or store-bought pastry parcels) for sharing
- □Black tea, coffee, lemonade, apple or cranberry juice, and sparkling water
- □Brass-looking keys or paper "passkeys" as place cards — Nina's gift at every seat
- □A small desk clock as a stand-in for the twice-tolling clock
- □Printed bingo cards, extra pens, and a red or gold runner if you have one
Day-of timeline
- 0–10 minWelcome & icebreakers (readers, not spoilers — keep the roof and Paris off the welcome mat)
- 10–20 minTrivia warm-up — suite 317, the passkey, the Triumvirate, the clock
- 20–50 minMain discussion (start with the attic and Nina; save Mishka, Sofia's tour, and the inn for last)
- 50–65 minSpeed debate: manners as resistance, or the ending as a fairy tale
- 65–75 minBingo, one-word rating, pick next month
Surprise touch
Leave a paper Metropol passkey at each seat — room number on one side, a blank line on the other for the guest's name. People will fidget with it before they talk, which is how this book works: a small object that turns out to open the whole building.
Wrap-up
- □Group photo with the passkeys or the honey jar in the frame
- □Quick rating round: 1–5 stars and one word each (expect "elegant," "slow," and "I would have taken the job sooner")
- □Vote on next month's book together