Family Happiness

It is well known that the giant of world literature, Leo Tolstoy, at twenty-eight decisively said farewell to “society” and spent the rest of his life on his estate. As you can see, it’s by no means accidental that the theme of family became central to his work.

And yet, the work offered here is capable of surprising and puzzling not only young and inexperienced readers. The story is told in the first person—moreover, by the voice of a young girl! The book’s theme is super-contemporary: romantic relationships between people with a very noticeable age difference!

Apollon Grigoriev declared that this is the best novel in all of Tolstoy’s oeuvre. And what do you think?..