When author Amor Towles finishes a book, he never really leaves it behind.
Over an authorial career lasting more than a decade, and over a lifetime of fiction writing, the seasonal West Chop resident has woven historical themes and characters through three novels and a host of short stories, with previous work often echoing into the next project.
His new book, Table for Two, which will be published next month, revisits a major character from his first novel, Rules of Civility, telling the next stage of her life though a series of short stories.
This week, however, Mr. Towles will be revisiting a past work in a much different way. On March 29, a miniseries adaptation of his second novel A Gentleman in Moscow will debut on Paramount Plus, the first time one of his books has been adapted for the screen.
“It’s a very busy time, but it’s also a very satisfying one,” Mr. Towles said in a Zoom interview with the Gazette. “I’m really focused on readers and the written word, but to have your written work interpreted by a talented team to bring it to life on the screen is satisfying.”
Mr. Towles’ connection with the Vineyard Gazette goes back to his boyhood days, when at age 12 he worked as the Gazette’s West Chop columnist. Although town columnists traditionally report on the news of the day, much of Mr. Towles’ column often included the exploits of character he made up (unbeknownst to his editor) called Edward Dillon, an early foray into the world of fiction.
A Gentleman in Moscow became a worldwide bestseller when it was published in 2016. Set in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel in the decades following the Bolshevik Revolution, the story centers on Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, a Russian aristocrat sentenced to house arrest at the hotel in 1917.
Mr. Towles said that after the film rights were purchased he was consulted on the early stages of its adaptation.
“I was involved in the decision of who to hire as director, who to hire as the head writer, who to hire for the lead role,” he said.
Ewan McGregor stars in the series, directed by Sam Miller.
“Then everything sort of takes off and you kind of step back,” he said of the production, adding that it can be a nerve-racking time for an author.
“You come, a year and a half, two years later and you visit the set while things are in motion, and that’s the point where you really start to feel the anxiety,” he said.
Mr. Towles said he vividly remembers his first encounter with the set, something that would be key for a story like A Gentleman in Moscow, in which the setting of the Metropol Hotel is so central to the story.
“We’re going through a stage, so there’s lumber, and lights that aren’t being used, and teamsters hanging around,” he recalled. “Then around a corner there’s the facade of the hotel, and we go through the revolving doors, and suddenly we’re in the lobby. I just remember having been very anxious, walking to the lobby and then being like, okay, everything’s going to be fine.”
The set designers, Mr. Towles said, led by production designer Victor Molero, were faced with the difficult task of converting the impressionistic work of prose description into a visual environment.
“You couldn’t draw a precise picture lobby based on what’s in the book,” he said, and yet the crew managed to bring the setting to life.
During filming, Mr. Towles recalled the long, detailed process the crew underwent to imitate a bullet hole in a framed photo of Stalin for one scene, as compared to how long it took to write that scene in the book.
“I was like, guys, this is amazing. And I just want you to know, it took me about two minutes to write the sentence: ‘and then he shot the portrait.’”
Recently, Mr. Towles has been involved in another project to adapt one of his works to the screen, consulting with writer and director Christopher Storer, creator of The Bear, on a film version of his third novel, Lincoln Highway.
Though Mr. Towles is known for his novels, he has always retained a practice of writing short fiction, going back to elementary school. Table for Two, his first collection of short stories (and a novella), was written over the past 10 years.
“These stories do provide, I think, readers with a window into how my mind works,” he said. “What you’re seeing through those stories is how I’m beginning to create the environment, how I’m beginning to create the personalities, how I’m beginning to get the tone.”
The technique of reincorporating characters from a previous a novel into the narrative is something he first encountered in the works of William Faulkner.
“It magnifies your experience while you’re reading,” he said. “You’re reading the event in the novel, but it’s echoing with this other novel or short story that you’ve read, and you’re remembering those incidents and trying to figure out how does that affect my reading?”
Now, as Mr. Towles gets ready to go on tour to promote his new book, he said will take a short break from writing, but plans to begin again this summer. One place where he knows he won’t be writing, though, is on Martha’s Vineyard, where he spends every weekend during the summer.
“The Vineyard is so personal, it’s so delightful, that you want to experience it,” he said. “The last thing I want to do is lock myself in a room and write.”
Amor Towles will speak at this summer’s Martha’s Vineyard Authors Series on July 14, time and location to be announced. A Gentleman in Moscow premiers on Paramount Plus on March 29.
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