A Gentleman in Moscow: Book 1, Advent Summary & Analysis

In late December, the Count notices a draft coming from an unattended coatroom as he walks to dinner. Overcome with curiosity, he steps inside and examines the array of coats, noting the smells of perfume or the smoke of a fireplace. He reminisces about how he and Helena would venture out on Christmas Eve, braving the cold to visit neighbors and enjoy feasts and fireplaces. On the way home, they would listen to the bells pealing from the Church of the Ascension.

The Count contrasts this memory with the memory of his return from Paris in 1918, when he had come upon the same church. The Bolsheviks heaved the bells from the Church one by one, presumably to reclaim the metal and manufacture artillery. The coatroom attendant returns and shakes the Count from his memory.

The Count goes to the Piazza, and is a bit disappointed to find it undecorated for Christmas. He is cheered, however, when he sees Nina at her usual table, and that she has ordered a tower of ice creams for dessert. The Count asks if she is excited to begin school in January; she remarks that even though everyone says they enjoyed school, she is not looking forward to it.

The Count tells Nina that school will broaden her horizons; Nina counters by saying that travel would broaden her horizons more effectively. She wonders why people would rather listen to Scheherazade—an opera she had attended the night before—than actually go to Arabia. The Count concedes that she makes a good argument.

The Count moves on to say how fortunate he feels to have become Nina’s friend. He gives her a Christmas present: his grandmother’s opera glasses. She is surprised by this gesture, and admits to him that he knows her better than anyone. As the two say goodnight, Nina gives the Count a gift in return, but says he must not open it until midnight.

After Nina leaves the Piazza, the Count notices a young couple at a table nearby who seem to be on a first date. The woman appears very serious; the man seems nervous and trying to impress her. Just as the man starts to form a good impression by revealing that his grandmother had taken him to The Nutcracker every year, the Bishop interrupts and asks if they are ready to order, which they clearly are not. The Count is furious at his lack of tact.

The couple orders two bowls of the Latvian stew, and the Bishop asks if they would like wine to go with it. When the man struggles with choosing a wine, the Bishop suggests a wine that the Count knows is both too expensive and will clash with the dinner they have selected. He thinks to himself that there is no substitute for experience, and leans over to suggest a different wine. He then orders the same dish as the couple. As they eat, they raise a glass to him in gratitude and kinship.

The Count returns to the lobby, noticing a set of musicians. He recognizes one of them as former prince Nikolai Petrov. The Prince tells the Count about the whereabouts of various relatives who have left Russia, and then laments that it is not easy for people like himself and the Count to find work. The Prince says he has to dash off, but that perhaps he and the Count could meet for a drink on the upcoming Saturday.

In a footnote, the narrator notes that many names in Russian novels are notorious for their length and that it is often difficult for readers to keep track of characters. The narrator informs the reader that the Prince is a relatively unimportant character and will not keep the appointment with the Count. Instead, on Saturday his room will be searched, and a picture of the Tsar will be found in an old textbook of his. As this is illegal, he will be taken to prison and sentenced to never again set foot in Russia’s six largest cities (a punishment called a Minus Six).

The narrator then states that while the Prince is a character that the reader needn’t bother to remember, a “round-faced fellow with a receding hairline” in the next chapter will become a very important character.

The Count returns to his room, and, noting that it is only eleven o’clock, he decides to read A Christmas Carol until the clock strikes twelve and he can open his present from Nina. The Count’s mind wanders to his youth as he remembers his Christmases as a child. He and Helena would wait all night until his father would give the signal to open the drawing room. He would then be enchanted by the tree in the drawing room, the bowls of oranges and candies, and the simplicity of an unexpected gift like a wooden sword that could provide hours of adventure.

 When the clock chimes midnight, the Count sets his book aside and opens Nina’s gift. Inside lies a smaller box, then another and another until the sixth box is no larger than a matchbox. Inside it, the Count finds Nina’s passkey.

The Count returns to A Christmas Carol, reaching the part where Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Present. He had forgotten the visit Scrooge pays to a family of miners in a ramshackle hut, and then another visit to two lighthouse keepers, and then another on the deck of a ship. The Count is warmed by reading of these visits, or perhaps by the chance meeting with the Prince, or by Nina’s friendship, he thinks. He falls asleep with a great sense of well-being.

The narrator warns, however, that had the Count looked into his future, he would have seen that less than four years later, the Count would climb to the roof of the hotel in order to throw himself into the street below.