Reminiscences

Who was beside Dostoevsky when «Crime and Punishment» and «The Brothers Karamazov» were born? Anna Grigoryevna—his wife, stenographer, editor, caring nurse, and a true keeper. Her «Memoirs» are a sincere, vivid, and deeply moving account of genius in everyday life: in illness, in debt, at work, and in love. A book worth reading for everyone who truly loves Dostoevsky.

Anna Grigoryevna’s «Memoirs» are rightfully considered one of the most valuable memoir sources about the writer. Through the lens of family life, she shows in detail both his character and his creative path, and how their family lived during years of hardship. Here you will find about the relationship between the spouses, about Fyodor Mikhailovich’s struggle with illness, about persistent financial problems, about the social and political atmosphere of the era, and about how the work on the major works of 1866–1881 proceeded—from «Crime and Punishment» to «The Brothers Karamazov».