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This was a quiet stunner of a story. And I say "quiet" because there weren't explosions, violent deaths *not on-page* or furious eruptions of emotion *except for Emile and his spoon, LOL*. It's a story told over decades, without ever a single moment of dragging or boring me, of a life lived with wit, humor, dignity, grace and a sparkling verve and style, no matter what the times and oppressive Bolshevik regime threw at him. I completely loved Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov and would have been spendidly entertained living in the Metropol Hotel with him.

Aside from Sasha, there is a rich cast of characters and a vividly rendered, tumultuous world, as well as an elegantly told and beautifully written story. And there aren't enough superlatives to give to the reader, Nicholas Guy Smith, who is a new-to-me narrator. He was the perfect Count Rostov and made the story, characters and world come alive.