The Diaries Of Sophia Tolstoy
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Condition: Good. Jacket: Very good, no tears, minimal wear. Page Condition: Good. Markings: No markings. Binding condition: Tight and secure.
Behind one of literature's most celebrated marriages lay a woman of extraordinary depth, intelligence, and suffering — The Diaries of Sophia Tolstoy presents the intimate, unfiltered writings of the wife of Leo Tolstoy, spanning nearly five decades of a turbulent life shared with one of history's greatest novelists. Translated with sensitivity and precision by Cathy Porter, these diaries chronicle Sophia's daily existence at Yasnaya Polyana, her intellectual frustrations, the demands of raising thirteen children, and her increasingly anguished relationship with a husband whose moral and spiritual transformation left her feeling utterly isolated. The entries pulse with raw emotion — jealousy, devotion, exhaustion, and a fierce, unyielding love — painting a portrait of a woman who was simultaneously muse, copyist, estate manager, and prisoner of her own marriage. Far more than a biographical footnote to her husband's legacy, Sophia Tolstoy emerges here as a formidable literary voice in her own right, whose observations on Russian society, art, and the human condition stand entirely independent of Leo's towering shadow. Porter's translation preserves the remarkable candour and rhythmic intimacy of the original Russian, ensuring that Sophia's voice resonates with urgent modernity. This is a document that fundamentally reframes our understanding of the Tolstoy household — and leaves the reader questioning everything they thought they knew about genius, sacrifice, and the cost of devotion.
Author: Sophia Tolstoy
Format: Hardback
Published: 1985, Random House, New York
Genre: Biography
Condition remarks:
Condition: Good. Jacket: Very good, no tears, minimal wear. Page Condition: Good. Markings: No markings. Binding condition: Tight and secure.
Behind one of literature's most celebrated marriages lay a woman of extraordinary depth, intelligence, and suffering — The Diaries of Sophia Tolstoy presents the intimate, unfiltered writings of the wife of Leo Tolstoy, spanning nearly five decades of a turbulent life shared with one of history's greatest novelists. Translated with sensitivity and precision by Cathy Porter, these diaries chronicle Sophia's daily existence at Yasnaya Polyana, her intellectual frustrations, the demands of raising thirteen children, and her increasingly anguished relationship with a husband whose moral and spiritual transformation left her feeling utterly isolated. The entries pulse with raw emotion — jealousy, devotion, exhaustion, and a fierce, unyielding love — painting a portrait of a woman who was simultaneously muse, copyist, estate manager, and prisoner of her own marriage. Far more than a biographical footnote to her husband's legacy, Sophia Tolstoy emerges here as a formidable literary voice in her own right, whose observations on Russian society, art, and the human condition stand entirely independent of Leo's towering shadow. Porter's translation preserves the remarkable candour and rhythmic intimacy of the original Russian, ensuring that Sophia's voice resonates with urgent modernity. This is a document that fundamentally reframes our understanding of the Tolstoy household — and leaves the reader questioning everything they thought they knew about genius, sacrifice, and the cost of devotion.