Reminiscent of the Russia of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, or Solzhenitsyn the author Amor Towles portrays the gluttony of aristocracy and the harshness of reformation, rebellion, and radicalization. When we first meet the Count Alexander Rostov he is standing before a Bolshevik tribunal, sentenced to live his life under house arrest for acts of sedition. The tribunal states that they are letting him live but if he ever steps foot outside the Hotel Metropol they will have Kremlin guards shoot him on the spot.

Adding insult to injury, their punishment for his aristocratic upbringing includes removing Count Rostov from his palatial digs at the Metropol. The powers that be have decided that the greatest punitive action would condemn Rostov to live in a small attic space among the unwanted furnishings and relics from the past. As he parts ways with his family heirlooms, he is allowed to selects only a few items to furnish his new accommodations. He chooses carefully, parting company with most of his memories but keeping a few choice functional articles that have the most meaning to the Count.

He quickly discovers that his "cell" is too small and his world starts closing in on him. Borscht, vodka, weekly visits to the barber, and people watching consumes his days, with a palpable boredom assailing his psyche. As he struggles to maintain his sanity under the constraints of his new life he meets a cast of wonderful characters who live and/or work at the Metropol. And then he meets the precocious little girl in the lemon yellow dress…

"...our lives are steered by uncertainties, many of which are disruptive or even daunting; but that if we persevere and remain generous of heart, we may be granted a moment of supreme lucidity – a moment in which all that has happened to us suddenly comes into focus as a necessary course of events, even as we find ourselves on the threshold of a bold new life that we had been meant to lead all along."

Beautifully written, this is more than a tale of survival, it is a parable that asks the reader to push against the boundaries of our lives. It beckons us to find the secret passageways. It encourages us to look for meaning in the smallest packages and in the most innocent exchanges. It reminds us to appreciate the sky, the people we befriend and them us, as well as our basic humanity.

“For what matters in life is not whether we receive a round of applause; what matters is whether we have the courage to venture forth despite the uncertainty of acclaim.”