Orenburg Governorate
In 1849–1852 "Sovremennik" published three novels by Avdeev - "Varenka", "The Notes of Tamarin" and "Ivanov"—later to become known as the "Tamarin" trilogy. The hero, Tamarin, was seen by the author as a development of the Pechorin character; another 'superfluous man', eager to put his worthy qualities and moral strength to a socially useful action and failing to find any. The trilogy was very popular and for the rest of the decade Russian critics used the "Tamarin" token name as a symbol of a certain social type. Encouraged by the trilogy's success, Avdeev retired from the service and settled in his Orenburg Governorate family estate to become a professional writer. His "Letters of a Vacant Man from Petersburg to the Province" appeared in "Sovremennik" in 1853.