Woman on the Cross

In Russian press in 1916 it was written: “In Russian literature there are only two great hopes, and both are Anns—Akhmatova in poetry and Mar in prose.” Alas, a little more than a year later, in the spring of 1918, Anna Mar passed away at the age of 31, having drunk a glass of cyanide.

Meanwhile, the print run of Anna Mar’s novel “A Woman on the Cross,” published in full without cuts the same year—1918—sold out in just one week. The publisher feverishly rushed to produce a new print run, while film auditions for “The Mocked Venus” were already taking place on a movie set being filmed based on Mar’s book. No doubt, the scenes of masochistic love contained in the novel played a role as well—around them a scandal erupted. But the stunning beauty and refinement of both the form and content of Anna Mar’s prose easily brushed aside all accusations of depravity and lack of spirituality. The sensual love story of 26-year-old Alina for the estate owner Heinrich Shemiot is told with astonishing tenderness and sincerity, and has long belonged to the classics of Russia’s Silver Age literature.