12 Books for Fans of 'A Gentleman in Moscow'

Plus, everything we know about Showtime's upcoming adaptation

In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in a humble attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel's doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances offer him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery as he connects with some of the other denizens of the Metropol Hotel.

This is the premise for A Gentleman in Moscow, the bestseller by Amor Towles that provides the basis for a new eight-episode series premiering on Showtime on March 31. Ewan McGregor stars as the titular gentleman and his real-life wife, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, plays his love interest, a famous actress who frequents the Metropol Hotel. If you haven't read the transporting novel yet, we can't recommend it highly enough. And if you're looking for similar reads, here are twelve titles we recommend.

What to read next

Here are twelve engaging reads featuring charismatic, compelling characters set against a historical backdrop of turmoil and transition.

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Featuring the same mix of historical relevance, lively wit, and propulsive storytelling, this richly imagined tale begins in 1950s Nebraska. Eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson returns home determined to rebuild his life after serving a sentence for involuntary manslaughter. But his best-laid plans are disrupted.

Table for Two by Amor Towles
For more from Towles, his newest release is a collection of short fiction including six stories set in New York City around the year of 2000. Also included is a novella set in the Golden Age of Hollywood and continuing the story of Evelyn Ross, the beloved character from his bestselling novel, Rules of Civility.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
This richly told saga traces four generations of a Korean immigrant family from the early 1900s to the present day. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, these complex and passionate characters must fight to control their destiny.

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
Dealing with themes of hope, exile, and belonging, this epic novel spans several decades in its depiction of an unlikely couple fleeing the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Roser is a pregnant young widow, who finds her life intertwined with that of Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love.

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
At the height of the Cold War, Irina, a young Russian-American secretary, is plucked from the CIA typing pool and given the assignment of a lifetime. Her mission: to help smuggle Doctor Zhivago into the USSR, where it is banned, and help Boris Pasternak's magnum opus make its way around the world.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
In South America, a celebrated soprano mesmerizes the illustrious guests of a lavish birthday party when a band of terrorists bursts in, taking the group hostage. This spellbinding novel about love and opera celebrates the unifying ways people learn to communicate across cultural barriers in times of crisis.

Lampedusa by Steven Price
Set in a sun-drenched Sicily, among the decadent Italian aristocracy of the late 1950s, this tale imagines the final years of Giuseppe Tomasi, the last prince of Lampedusa, as he tries to complete his only novel, The Leopard. It is a portrait of a man facing his own mortality as he struggles to create his life's work.

The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
This novel recreates the tragic, perennially fascinating story of the final days of Nicholas and Alexandra Romanov as seen through the eyes of their young kitchen boy. Many decades after witnessing the 1918 murders of Russia's last imperial family, the ancient Russian immigrant tells his story.

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
In the 1930s, Macy's advertising woman Lillian worked her way up to the top. Now an 85-year-old and still as sharp as ever, Lillian walks across the city to a New Year's Eve party, reminiscing on a life of adversity, passion, and heartbreak, while ruminating on all the ways New York has changed—and has not.

Cantoras by Carolina de Roberts
In 1977 Uruguay, where homosexuality is deemed a punishable transgression, five queer women somehow manage to find one another and create a safe haven where they can live—and love—freely. Over the next 35 years, they will face many challenges as they fight to preserve their community.

The Romanov Empress by C. W. Gortner
From the opulent palaces of St. Petersburg to the bloodied countryside occupied by the Bolsheviks, this saga traces the decades leading up to the Russian Revolution as seen through the eyes of the Danish princess who became the mother of the last Russian tsar.

The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
1936: Composer Dmitri Shostakovich, just thirty years old, fears for his livelihood and his life. Stalin has denounced his latest opera. Certain he will be exiled to Siberia (or worse), Shostakovich reflects on his predicament. This slim masterpiece offers a brilliant meditation on the meaning of art and its place in society.

Whether you are drawn to stories about Russian history and culture, historical sagas set against times of great change, or resilient, intelligent protagonists finding a way to thrive in difficult circumstances, hopefully there's something here that speaks to you.

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon