A Gentleman in Moscow question

Imagine you are Amor Towles reading over this thread. Could an author ask for a better tribute to the ending he chose for his book? Yes, we're all a bit confused about the aftermath of the Afterword: is the Count ever to be re-united with Sofia? Ever to see Paris again? In other words, Towles has got us right where he wants us. I for one am happy to be here.

Osip is the key! As the Kremlin officer who is "charged with keeping track of certain men of interest" - he is the Kremlin officer at the end who says "round up the usual suspects" - a huge nod to Casablanca and a smirk. So no one probably even looked for him or Anna! Well done, Mr. Towles!

I thought it was the only ending that it could have been! Rostov loved Russia. If you recall he did leave Russia before the revolution but came back knowing the risks. He came back, because Russia was his home. And, he made the best of it in the Metropol...what an adaptive individual! But, in the end, he wanted to go back to his old stomping grounds...where the apple trees were blooming. Who knows what happened next. I think that is up to the reader. But, I do think that if Rostov was caught he would have been happy that he was able to get his "daughter" out, that he was re-united with his love, and that he was able to breathe the fresh air of the country while looking at the apple blossoms once more. How it could it get any better than that for a man who had lived the better part of his life inside a hotel?

I don't think the Bishop will ever find the count because the Bishop thinks the count is all about surface aspects of wealth and fame so he would assume The Count will be in some world capital living large. The Count was all about the simple pleasures of courtesy, appreciation, shared history which is why he returned to his home. Loved this book!

Rostov getting out of Russia would be too "romantic" an ending, I think. I thought the twist of going "home" was brilliant for a character who had been entrapped for so long. The presence of the "willowy" Anna does add an element that suggests their love is likely doomed, but in such a small town, and a ruin, maybe not. I think that uncertainty is part of the beauty of the ending.

I think it's an open ending. Count tricked his pursuers into thinking he went to Finland, and even before that he tested what Osip would do by showing him Casablanca. As we saw, Osip has no intention of actually going after Count.

Count did reunite with Anna in his birthplace but his house had been burned down and we saw he is quite capable of letting go. He may be settling in some remote village, Russia is enormous, they would never find him, and it's been 50 years since they got rid of aristocracy, I don't think it's at the top of Party's list of important things to do any more.

But one thing that hints he may be leaving Russia is his conversation with Anna:

“Sasha, I know you don’t want to accept the notion that Russia may be inherently inward looking, but do you think in America they are even having this conversation? Wondering if the gates of New York are about to be opened or closed?

“You sound as if you dreamed of living in America.”

“Everyone dreams of living in America.”

Now this could just be what prompted him to send Sophia to America, but the fact that Anna wants to go there and that he meets her at the end could also be foreshadowing where they're going after that. I just don't see Anna as someone leading a quiet and unassuming village life.

Stacey wrote: "I am confused about the ending and need help figuring it out. Was Rostov just swinging by his childhood town to see his old home and pick up his gf before finally leaving the country to reunite wit..."
IMO, he visited his childhood home one last time, rendezvous with his lover in a place the authorities would never think to look for him, then left Russia to join his beloved adopted daughter . That last part is not stated, but I believe it is so. Russia was no longer the place of his heart when he reached the point of arranging his adopted daughters escape, and he would never have cast his daughter adrift in western society that he himself no longer knew. His lover also had only a shadow of her former Russian life, and would have ventured out to start anew.

I simply loved this book. The Count gave Sophia a chance for a life outside Russia, which is something that he didn't want to give up even if it meant living without anything except the willowy woman near his childhood home. His way of life was gone and never to return, but the bottom line is that the Count didn't want to leave Russia. He loved Russia, but he also loved Sofia and he knew that her mother would want her to be able to express herself freely. He simply couldn't ask Sophia to live life "on the run" with him so he risked it all knowing that as a parent there comes a time when the little ones must leave the nest in order to survive, and with that knowledge and Anna he would be content with the rest of his life.

Casablanca was an excellent choice as a method of foreshadowing. Rick does not get on the plane with Ilsa, he stays behind and "fights the good fight," even though that choice was personally, tremendously difficult for him. Rick put his own desires second. There can be no doubt the count deeply loved Sofia as his daughter. But he also felt terrible guilt at encouraging her to wish to be "caged up" like him. He loved her so much that he wanted, like her mother Nina before her, for Sofia to be free to follow her own course in the world. He needed to set her free from being tethered to him. It was beautiful and magnanimous. As an added bonus, the man who fled back to--not from--Russia and was saved from suicide by honey and the thoughts of the fruit trees near his home got to experience them with his beloved Anna. We needn't worry too much about him. His friend, the KGB man, has simply ordered the "rounding up of the usual suspects," and the unimaginative, one-dimensional thinker, "the Bishop," thinks Count Rostov has fled to Finland and beyond. He is an old man, and he and Anna will simply concoct some semi-plausible cover story under which he will live out his days, but not cooped up in a tiny room. Well done and Bravo, Mr. Towles!

I loved this novel so much, with its little touches of magic. The bees and their special honey and the hidden gold in the bureau etc. I loved the quirky characters with all their wit and charm. At first I was disappointed that the Count did not escape to be with Sofia but the more I thought about it the ending made perfect sense. Given that the Count was ‘Russian to his core’ and had returned home to his roots in the first place he wouldn’t leave his homeland. The woman he meets is definitely Anna, as she was described as willowy throughout the novel. I felt convinced that they would remain hidden as a couple as Anna had previously cast an invisibility spell over the count. This magical/fairytale element to the story made It easier to imagine him evading capture. Also the Count has built up a powerful associates in Osip, who would protect him.
I saw the children climbing in the tree as memories of the past which he sets free, leaving the Count in sunny present with the future open to interpretation. We truly hope the Count will meet up with Sofia somehow, possibly through Richard Vandercamp, and he promises he will hear her play the piano if he was on the moon, but we know the real dangers they face.

I agree with Christy. No one is going to look for him. Not only is Osip not going to attempt to find him, but everyone thinks he left Russia and went to Finland

So glad to see other's initial impression was confusion about the ending. I listened to the book via Audible's excellent production so thought perhaps I missed something when I got to the end - which I initially didn't understand. I was going to relisten to the last chapter again, but decided to Google instead.

The answers here have helped me piece together how very clever the author was. After luring us into the Count's restrained life centered on key relationships and routine, he then lured us into thinking the Count would do something drastically different. The whole pace of the chapters describing how he planned Sopha's defection was more frenetic than the earlier leisurely pace of the first 2/3 of the book.

I was hoping Rostov would break free (my interpretation of his life) and join Sophia at the American Embassy in Paris and eventually establish a new life with her in America (remember Anna saying doesn't everyone want to live in America?)

But now seeing that most other readers here are making a case for the gray-haired willowy woman being Anna and remembering that Rostov came back to his family home to be with his beloved grandmother , him ending up there - even if temporarily - with Anna makes perfect sense.

What a GREAT book!

I appreciate the challenge this ending presents! We are all invited to carry these wonderful characters to a last chapter of our own, based on the tapestry of details the author has sewn into the lining of the book. Personally, I like that Sofia kept the necklace Anna gave her- suggesting a stronger relationship between the two than described in chapter, and an imagined reunion of this delightfully eclectic “family” in Paris.

Yep, I think he left.

It was clear to me that the passport theft was a ruse, so the authorities wouldn't search for him, and he took up life with Anna in his hometown. He launched Sofia into the world -- recall where he told her she had to venture into the unknown, not just read about it within the walls of the hotel. So yes, they are separated, but to my mind, both happily.

The “willowy” character was definitely Anna as the word was used to describe Anna several times. It couldn’t be his sister. She died of scarlet fever when she was 17. He helped Sophia defect.

Is it possible that Rostov used the bullet in the second dueling gun to kill himself, and the last scene was a fantasy of his return, with the two little kids being himself and his sister when they were young? He hadn't used the other bullet on The Bishop because he wasn't an aristocrat. That is really the only ending that sits well with me, though I realize that it is a very different tone than the rest of the story. I just can't face the idea that he would have stayed in Russia, knowing that imprisonment or death awaited him.

I loved the book. I think the Count left the hotel to protect Sofia. They would have used him against her to arrest her. He had refused to spy, but he did it for her. He had to send info with her so she could be protected by the Americans. It would have not been very believable in the story for him to be able to get out too. He had no papers; he was on death sentence if he left the hotel. The story specified that the woman he met at the end had gray hair and I believe the willow reference refers to Anna. She was famous in movies before talkies came out so she was most known a lot younger. If she dressed plainer, I don't think she was as recognizable. And as she got older, she performed on stage which would not have been seen by as many. They were hiding in the country, away from cities where the theaters were. We aren't told how he traveled. He wouldn't have been well known at his family area at this age but he would have known the area well. And the KGB man was willing to let him go. We could believe no one was looking for Anna because she came and went all the time so it wasn't unusual.

I have just finished the book and was also puzzled by the ending. It has been interesting reading the different interpretations given here.

The one thing that nobody seems to have mentioned, but might give us some clue to the Count's ultimate intentions, is that when he leaves his room he packs Mishka's book. Having been entrusted with the book by Katrina, he would have felt a responsibility to see his old friend's project through to its conclusion. Was he taking the book with him to Paris then onward to America?

Then again there is the bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape which sort of suggests the Count had the opposite intention. If he intended to go to Paris or America, surely he would have been able to purchase a bottle there instead of carrying one all the way. But such a bottle might have been difficult to get hold of if he and Anna were living the quiet life in rural Russia.

I like to think that the visit to his childhood home and the rendezvous with Anna were part of his eventual plan to follow Sofia to Paris. It would be pleasing to think of the Count, Sofia and Anna somewhere in America toasting his old friend in 1963 even if the practicalities of him escaping, that some people have mentioned, make it unlikely.

I loved the ending. That he met up with Anna and presumably they were happy together living the rest of their days in a place that could be more like the old Russia of his youth, was unexpected and genius. The Count knew that Sofia was ready to be on her own and as such, her life was to follow a different trajectory than his. It's something every parent finds out, that they have to let go and find life anew, on their own again. The fact that he escaped from the Metropol, finally, and could be back in his beloved countryside was the perfect way to wrap up this beautiful novel.

In the spirt of classic Russian literature, held so dearly in this novel, it is the fate of characters to suffer within their environs while seeking bits of pleasure in an otherwise tragic story.

Rostov never ceased exisitng spiritually in Idlehour and, having returned in the end, reunited his physical with his mental after the extended absence at the Metropol.

Additionally, his need to release Sofia to Paris and from Russian observation was his amends for his prideful actions that resulted in the loss of sister in the callous acts resultant of a gentlemanly feud.

It was poetic and fitting for him to remain in his homeland.

I was also confused by the ending. I was so sure the count would defect in order to be with Sofia. I appreciated everyone's comments after reading these, his remaining in the Soviet Union makes perfect sense. He could have stayed in Paris when the revolution broke out, yet he chose to return home. Still, I'm not sure how I feel about he ending.

The count promises his daughter that he would not miss seeing her perform. He's a man who keeps his promises. After meeting up with Anna and seeing his former home, now ruined, they somehow get of of Russia. He will have more of those gold sovereigns. They'll come in handy. He also still has the Finnish passport. Anna will have connections. He gave the Americans what they wanted, so they will keep their end of the bargain and get them to safety in New York.

Stacey wrote: "I am confused about the ending and need help figuring it out. Was Rostov just swinging by his childhood town to see his old home and pick up his gf before finally leaving the country to reunite wit..."

(New at this, not sure I'm doing it right.) I thought the ending totally didn't make sense and therefore it ruined the book for me a lot. But it's been so long and it's fuzzy in my memory now. I became disenchanted with the story/book with that ending. I feel I am alone in thinking/feeling this way!

Stacey wrote: "I am confused about the ending and need help figuring it out. Was Rostov just swinging by his childhood town to see his old home and pick up his gf before finally leaving the country to reunite wit..."

I think it just speaks to his patriotism. He stayed in Russia for the same reason he stayed after the revolution.

Thanks everyone! This made this book even better for me! And it was already 5 stars!

In the chapter Adieu on the Count’s failed suicide attempt in 1926, there is a gold coin he places in his jacket for the undertaker. At the end of the chapter, it says the coin would stay in the desk for the next 28 years. That would be in 1954 - the year he escaped. Sadly, I think this implies he would be caught and die the same year he escaped and returned to his hometown.

The Count meets Anna at the inn. The Soviets’ think he has decamped to Finland via the ruse with stolen Finnish passport. The last place they will be looking is inside the borders. Do they eventually leave Russia after a final visit to his home? Another book perhaps might explore what can after.

Bittersweet endings are some of the best kind, as well as those that keep us guessing a bit. Any novelist could have written a conclusion where Alexander and Sofia reunite in Paris or beyond. But it takes a talented artist to create an ending that simultaneously lifts us up while leaving us feeling somewhat wistful as we weigh notions of “what if…”.

Towles brilliantly created an ambiguous ending to keep the reader engaged beyond the last page.

I loved how the ending was left up to the interpretation of the reader. I am of the personal opinion that the Count met up with Anna in his hometown, but that it was only a temporary visit to say goodbye to the place he once loved. I believe this is the case because as he’s viewing the burnt remains of his childhood home, the Count recalls many other similar classic stories of men returning home after a long period away, only to be disappointed by all the changes and to be pulled away from home shortly thereafter to embark on their next great adventure. The Count, however, viewed these changes to his childhood home as not only inevitable, but beautiful (and fortuitous in his specific circumstances). But unlike Odysseus and the other men of those stories that would have given the advice not to return home at all, the Count felt that returning home was the right thing to do, he having not expected things to remain the same at all. In doing so, staying true to his character’s unwavering patriotism and love of Russia. But, like the men of the classic stories, his story would not let him remain home for long. Whether he was captured by the KGB or continued his expedition with Anna to America, who is to say. And that, I believe, is a sure sign of a good story—when you continue discussing, wondering, and creating your own future for the characters long after the final page.

I loved the ending of this book! It gave gave both a conclusion and just enough uncertainty to imagine the Count's life outside the Metropol. I thought it was really well done!

I have no doubt the Count remained in Russia. He returned early on at his peril. He refused to leave when offered the spying opportunity by his friend.

He again put himself in peril when Sofia was injured.

It’s been awhile, but I don’t recall anything was said that he gave away all of his money. Did it say that?

As confused as you are!! I'd like to think that they will head to France to meet up with his beloved "daughter." Otherwise he is acting totally out of character.

Relieved to know it wasn't just me. At least I wasn't confused about the "willowy" woman at the tavern! Towles made it clear on his FB page that the actress had repeatedly been referred to as "willowy." Some were insisting it was Nina, the girl in yellow. Like, he was in love with her. I was like 'But she was like a DAUGHTER!!'

Yea, that ending did not leave me happy. The Bishop would never have rested till he knew exactly what happened to Rostov and had him arrested and Rostov had to know he'd be caught, especially as he was hanging around with a once-famous actress.

Lea: Apparently, all Rostov was trying to do was get his "daughter" out of Russia and get himself free to stay in Russia with his girlfriend, the actress. I'd hoped Rostov would get out of Russia, reunite with his daughter in Paris and the actress would catch up later. When the whole switch on the train happened I was in shock. Made no sense to me. I kept seeing all the rave reviews and wondered if we all read the same ending.

I thought the ending perfect. I have a question though....I missed the point of why Rostov published the poem rather than the real author who was not ashamed of being a socialist.

To me, it was all about the Ferris wheel of life. We get on, and have a desire to leave our situations, go around, but at the top or far away, there’s a pull to circle back to the ground- where we began. We slowly turn away from who we are gaining height on the wheel, then every move is a step to get back to what we worked hard to leave. I think the Caruso example, only emphasized that the wheel can go around and around again.

What I don't get is, how did the Finnish man not realise his passport was gone in the couple of days before Rostov left the Metropol, when in the book it actually stated that foreigners apparently always kept their passports on them in Moscow?

I wish I could answer your question, Cavour, but I read the book approx. 2 yrs. ago, so I don't remember about the passports, but good question.

I think Deb's conclusion is perfect.

Count Rostov staying in Russia at his own peril as we read the bit in Book Three, his discussion with Mishka - when he ponders and even asks Osip if the Russian character is to kill its own progeny - and so the progeny killed would be his being a gentleman which dies with him. Sophia is not like the Tzar or Ivan's child, condemned or being cradled as a dead child - Sophia is not his biological child but a child of Russia connecting again the relationship between Russia and Paris - while he and Anna gradually fade into oblivion and are willing to "destroy that which we have created". Like the thrice read story of Anna Karenina, they may be throwing themselves on the railroad tracks by staying in Russia but they are being true to the Russian tapestry.

I agree with Laura. As a parent, one can think about the nobility of sending our child off to a safer place. But alone, it would be a loss too great for sensitive Sofia to bear.

One clue was he didn’t write a letter to Anna like his other friends. So they must have agreed to meet. He may have planned to go to Helsinki, but he knew the bishop had seen the travel book on Finland so felt he would be caught. More important to free his
daughter.

So here's a thought about the willowy woman.....The book, for me, is about a man who lives by loyalty and friendship. His best friend wrote the poem which condemned him to the hotel. But you would never know it. He Loves his best friend. His best friend is loved by Katarina, i believe. She Loves his Best Friend. He loves his Best Friend. She leaves him for another. His Best Friend takes her back because he will always love her. She brings the manuscript to Rostov and then 'fades' into Russia. He is deeply disturbed by her departure and ruminates many nights for a long time.

I believe Katarina is the woman at the table at the end. He will now take care of her as she cared for their Best Friend......

Then again, the whole last chapter could be the count dreaming.....The boy and girl in the tree are he and his sister as children, he visits and says good bye to the old homestead, and the woman waiting is a combination of nina, his sister, his daughter, his lover....who knows?

...it's that good a book !!!!!

I hate to write this but, in my opinion, with the way this book ends, Count Rostov is likely to die very soon either by suicide or from KGB torture in Lubyanka prison and all his friends in the Hotel Metropol, his girlfriend and Sofia’s piano instructor are likely to end up in Lubyanka also. With as much as the author obviously knows about the Soviet Union, I don’t understand how he could choose this ending for the book.
A bit of research will reveal the Soviet Union had internal passports and, from what I’ve read, hotels were required to see the traveler’s internal passport when the traveler registered. Where were the Count and Anna going to live? There was nothing in the book about the Count obtaining false internal passports for himself and Anna. Also, the Soviet Union was a police state and someone’s sudden relocation to live permanently in a small village would have attracted attention from the police if only because, since everything was owned by the government, the new resident would have to apply to get a place to live.
And the KGB would be searching frantically for the Count. They would think he was a spy or a traitor who obtained secret information when he was the waiter at the dinner of the Presidium and the Council of Ministers. The Count’s ruse about defecting via Finland won’t save him because the KGB would harshly interrogate everyone connected with Sofia’s defection and Sofia’s piano instructor will probably immediately tell the KGB the Count didn’t take the train toward Helsinki. So, the KGB will soon know to search for the Count inside the Soviet Union.
Also, these letters to his friends and the gold coins will all be evidence against the Count’s friends because each of them will also be harshly interrogated. Again, the KGB will treat this as the Count spying on the absolute leaders of the Soviet government and the KGB will take every step, including torturing the Count’s friends, to catch the Count and find out the extent of his espionage. The Count’s buddy who is high up in the security service won’t be able to stop the investigation and it’s likely the Count’s buddy will also end up in prison because this is spying on the head of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev, and the buddy probably can’t protect himself from the guilt-by-association with the Count.
Again, I wonder how the author could have left the Court and his girlfriend exposed this way. At least the Court and perhaps his girlfriend could have escaped via Finland though his other friends and acquaintances were probably all doomed as soon as Sofia defected.

Am so glad I found this thread as having loved the book the ending threw me (and annoyed me a bit). He loved Sofia so much and could actually have got out of the Soviet union himself . I don't think he'd risk leaving her alone in the world. Both her parents dead, Rostov and everyone she'd ever known lost to her, even her homeland. I can't see much happiness for her in the future. Maybe Towles was trying to avoid a fairy tale ending. But as the whole novel was something of a fairy story, I think it would have worked just fine.

Best ending ever -- the Count remains with his true (sentimental) loves after setting his young dearest free.