Book Review: Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

http://www.amazon.com/Rules-of-Civility-ebook/dp/B004IYJDVG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380723477&sr=8-1&keywords=rules+of+civility

Publisher: Vikiing Adult

Pages: 335

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar with her boardinghouse roommate stretching three dollars as far as it will go when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker with royal blue eyes and a tempered smile, happens to sit at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a yearlong journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool toward the upper echelons of New York society and the executive suites of Condé Nast--rarefied environs where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve.

Wooed in turn by a shy, principled multi-millionaire and an irrepressible Upper East Side ne'er-do-well, befriended by a single-minded widow who is a ahead of her time,and challenged by an imperious mentor, Katey experiences firsthand the poise secured by wealth and station and the failed aspirations that reside just below the surface. Even as she waits for circumstances to bring Tinker back into her life, she begins to realize how our most promising choices inevitably lay the groundwork for our regrets.

My Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

My Review:

Rules of Civility is an interesting look at the world of the 1930's and how to rise up in society. At times, I really loved this book and couldn't put it down and at other times it lost my interest. I was really interested in the characters and wish that the book was longer and lent more time to the inner mindset of Tinker especially. The book could have also benefited by a bit more exploration into the romantic aspects, it left much to the imagination and reading between the lines which may have been intended.

The ending left me both satisfied and unsatisfied, happy with some outcomes and yet perplexed by others that no time were spent on. And yet, I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it.

The time period and Manhattan are two additionally characters in the story and perhaps the most intriguing.