Amor Towles – Rules of Civility -Review

Reminiscent of the plays by Noel Coward, Rules of Civility is a literary jaunt in 1930's Manhattan. Our narrator, Kate Kontent, the daughter of Russian immigrants, born in Brooklyn, and living in New York City works for a Law Firms typing pool, residing in a woman's boarding house, and frequents jazz clubs, and out-of-the-way bars.

Kate is an unusual young woman, seemingly centered for her age, intelligent, and a card-carrying bibliophile, she meets a handsome banker in a hole-in-the-wall jazz dive. Kate's roommate and best friend, Eve, is a typical Midwestern girl, who also is centered, forthright, blond, and very pretty. In the beginning, both women vie for Tinker's (Theodore Gray)) affections, when a drastic twist of fate occurs, changing the trajectory of all their lives.

The story is about New York's wealthy elite, following Kate and Eve's immersion and rise in that gilded world.

Although Eve remains true to her middle-class sensibilities, she views this elite world with almost a cheeky disdain. Whereas our protagonist, Kate, comes from an immigrant working-class background, though she adapts or fits right into this lofty existence of doorman-fronted upscale apartments, expensive restaurants, and exclusive gatherings, as she appears to be one of them. At the same time, however, she is a woman true to herself.

Curiously, at the center of the tale is Young Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation. There are 110 rules written by the young first president to follow when engaging with society or “polite society. For example:

10^th When you Sit down, Keep your Feet firm and Even, without putting one on the other or Crossing them

17^th Be no Flatterer, neither Play with any that delights not to be Play'd Withal.

22^nd Shew not yourself glad at the Misfortune of another though he were your enemy.

This is a “Manners maketh the Man”  guide to being a gentleman in polite society, and its use and application in the novel becomes clear much further in the book.

The only reason I came to this novel is Towel's most recent text, A Gentleman in Moscow, was such a great pleasure to read. One has to admit that Rules of Civility is a much different text, though it includes the charm, wit, and stylish prose expected of a first-rate novel.

Recommended for a quiet Sunday afternoon.