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Content snapshot
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Violence
Barely any
No significant violence; some period car accident
Language
Some
Adult language in the sophisticated Manhattan register
Sexual Content
Some
Adult romantic and sexual content in the literary fiction tradition
Substance Use
Some
Regular drinking throughout; the Manhattan social world runs on cocktails
Emotional Intensity
Some
The psychological experience of a clever young woman choosing who she wants to become among people who are watching closely creates the novel's tension
What this book is about
Amor Towles's debut novel follows Katey Kontent, a young secretary from Queens who spends 1938 moving through Manhattan's upper social registers after a chance encounter with a wealthy young man. Towles writes 1930s New York with enormous wit and precision. The novel is adult in its worldliness — drinking, society, class, and some adult content — but entirely literary in its sensibility.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
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