Sophia Tolstoy
Subtitle: a biography
By: Alexandra Popoff
Edition: 1st Free Press hardcover ed.
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 354
ISBN-13: 9781416597599; 9781416559900
Description: "As Leo Tolstoy's wife, Sophia Tolstoy experienced both glory and condemnation during their forty-eight-year marriage. She was admired as the muse and literary assistant to one of the world's most celebrated novelists. But when in later years Tolstoy became a towering public figure and founded a new brand of religion, she was scorned for her disagreements with him. And it is this version of Sophia--malicious, shrill, perennially at war with Tolstoy--that has gone down in the historical record. Drawing on newly available archival material, including Sophia's unpublished memoir, Alexandra Popoff presents a dramatically different and accurate portrait of the woman and the marriage. This lively, well-researched biography demonstrates that, contrary to popular belief, Sophia was remarkably supportive of Tolstoy and was, in fact, key to his fame"--Page 2 of cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 336-339) and index.
Table of contents: title: Childhood; title: Family happiness; title: Natasha; title: A shadow passed between us; title: Observing the artist; title: On crossroads; title: Life with a religious philosopher; title: Separate lives; title: The money brought me no joy; title: The martyr and the martyress; title: Who's to blame?; title: The brotherhood of people; title: I long to be alone with my family; title: A song without words; title: In life's whirlpool; title: The line has been drawn; title: In the name of universal love; title: And the light shineth in darkness; title: Epilogue.