Rules of Civility

Author(s): Amor Towles

Staff Picks- Read our reviews

An elegant and captivating debut novel, Aom Towles' Rules of Civility tells the story of a watershed year in the life of an uncompromising twenty-five-year-old named Katey Kontent, a young woman with an uncommon sense of purpose. Armed with little more than a formidable intellect, a bracing wit, and her own brand of cool nerve, Katey Kontent embarks on a journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool through the upper echelons of 1938 New York City society. A New York Times bestseller. 

'It is 1966 and a middle aged couple are browsing a photography exhibition in an art gallery; The woman - Katey - is plunged back into her past when she sees two portraits depicting a young man she knew years ago. We are then transported back with her to 1938, where she and her best friend Eve are whiling away New Years Eve in a jazz bar - stretching $3 as far as it will go - and about to make the unexpected acquaintance of a young, charming and wealthy gentleman - Tinker Grey - who will change both their lives forever.
Their interactions are playful and sharp, the two women show him a quirky, hidden side of New York and are in turn, introduced into his high flying world of glamour, martinis, and possibilities enhanced by wealth.


When a terrible accident changes the natural course of events, the year takes a downward turn for Katey, and the months that followed filled me with a sense of nostalgia for those easy friendships and hope filled moments of the year's beginning.


The novel is told over the course of the four seasons, and shows us a golden view of a city not yet in the throes of war, and follows Katey as she navigates waters of what will prove to be her most tumultuous year - a year that will have ripple effects far into the future. Both heart wrenching and wise, witty and beautifully narrated, this novel was a gem that I savoured every page of, just as I did with his one other book  - A Gentleman in Moscow. He has a new novel (The Lincoln HIghway) due out at the end of this year and I am desperate for it! I liken Towles' writing to that of Donna Tartt, he is a masterful writer.' Jemma


Product Information

For fans of Fitzgerald and Capote, a witty, elegant fairytale of New York, set in 1938.

'Everything about this novel, set in 1930s New York, is achingly stylish - from the author's name to the slinky jacket design. Katey Kontent, daughter of Russian immigrants, and Evie Ross, from the sleepy midwest, are an ambitious, wisecracking pair who, despite lack of money and connections, aim to set the city alight. A fortuitous meeting with the apparently wealthy Tinker Grey on New Year's Eve, 1937, will change the course of both their lives.' - Guardian   'If you want shopping at Bendel's, gin martinis at a debutante's mansion and jazz bands playing until 3am, Rules of Civility has it all and more ...While you're lost in the whirl of silk stockings, furs and hip flasks, all you care about is what Katey Kontent does next. Another one bartender, please.' - Observer   'Irresistible ...A cross between Dorothy Parker and Holly Golightly, Katey Kontent is a priceless narrator in her own right - the brains of a bluestocking with the legs of a flapper and the mores of Carrie Bradshaw.' - Telegraph   'Towles creates a narrative that sparkles with sentences so beautiful you'll stop and re-read them. A delicious and memorable novel that will leave you wistful ...and desperate for a martini.' - Stylist   'My book of the year. If the unthinkable happened and I could never read another new work of fiction in 2011, I'd simply re-read this sparkling, stylish book, with yet another round of martinis as dry as the author's wit.' - Herald

Amor Towles has written fiction which has appeared in The Paris Review. This is his first novel. He lives in New York.

General Fields

  • : 9781444708875
  • : Hodder & Stoughton
  • : Sceptre
  • : 0.24
  • : March 2012
  • : 197mm X 129mm X 23mm
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Amor Towles
  • : Paperback
  • : English
  • : 813.6
  • : very good
  • : 335