I read about this novel on someone’s blog, but I can’t remember who (sorry!). I ordered it from the library and it is obviously very popular because it took about six months to arrive.
I loved this novel. It is a mixture of The Great Gatsby, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Mad Men and Sex in the City!
Set during the hazy, enchanting, and martini-filled world of New York City circa 1938, Rules of Civility follows three friends–Katey, Eve, and Tinker–from their chance meeting at a jazz club on New Year’s Eve through a year of enlightening and occasionally tragic adventures. Tinker orbits in the world of the wealthy; Katey and Eve stretch their few dollars out each evening on the town. While all three are complex characters, Katey is the story’s shining star. She is a fully realized heroine, unique in her strong sense of self amidst her life’s continual fluctuations. Towles’ writing also paints an inviting picture of New York City, without forgetting its sharp edges. Reminiscent of Fitzgerald, Rules of Civility is full of delicious sentences you can sit back and savor (most appropriately with a martini or two). –Caley Anderson
This novel is beautifully written – Katey has some pithy one liners. This novel has an amazing sense of place – the reader is transported back to New York in the 1930s. There is cocktails, jazz and ‘smart-talking dames’. The characters do unexpected things or I should say everything is not what you assume.
This novel is witty, clever and fun and I want to go and read it again (although I expect someone else is waiting for it at the library).
Here are more reviews …
http://readingthroughthebs.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/review-of-rules-of-civility/
http://giraffeelizabeth.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/rules-of-civility-amor-towles/