Rules of Civility: A Novel

From the New York Times best-selling author of A Gentleman in Moscow, a "sharply stylish" (Boston Globe) novel of a young woman in post-Depression-era New York who suddenly finds herself thrust into high society. 

On the last night of 1937, 25-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker, happens to sit down at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a yearlong journey into the upper echelons of New York society - where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve. 

With its sparkling depiction of New York's social strata, its intricate imagery and themes, and its immensely appealing characters, Rules of Civility won the hearts of readers and critics alike.