Synopses & Reviews
A Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year Many readers are aware that writers such as Fitzgerald, Joyce, and Lawrence used their marriages for literary inspiration. In Russian literary marriages these women did not resent taking a secondary position, although to call their position secondary underscores the vital role these women played in the creation of some of the greatest literary works in history. From Sofia Tolstoy to Vera Nabokov and Elena Mandelshtam and Natalya Solzhenitsyn, these women ranged from stenographers and typists to editors, researchers, translators, and even publishers. Living under restrictive regimes, many of these women battled censorship and preserved the writers’ illicit archives, often risking their own lives to do so. They established a tradition all their own, unmatched in the West.
Review
" invites us to perceive both symmetries and incongruities among the couples and reveals distinctions between the czarist and Soviet periods. This collection about the companions of great Russian authors buzzes with both literary insight and gossipy intrigue, exploring the wives' relationships not just with their husbands but also with their husbands' books." The Wall Street Journal
Review
"Popoff's extensive research provides insight into the dynamic, albeit complex, relationships between these devoted women and the authors. Through their ingenuity, self-sacrifice and courage, their husbands' works were able to see the light of day, and the world was enriched by their publication." The Washington Post
Review
"Popoff's compassionate treatment reminds us of the wives' integral role in the creation of Russia's astonishingly rich literature." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Muses and editors, saviors and publishers: the women behind the greatest works in Russian literature.
Synopsis
A Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year
Synopsis
Many readers may know that such writers as F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce and D.H. Lawrence used their marriages for literary inspiration and material. In Russian literary marriages, these women did not resent taking a secondary position, although to call their position secondary does not do justice to the vital role these women played in the creation of some of the greatest literary works in history. From Sofia Tolstoy to Vera Nabokov and Elena Mandelshtam and Natalya Solzhenitsyn, these women ranged from stenographers and typists to editors, researchers, translators, and even publishers. Living under restrictive regimes, many of these women battled censorship and preserved the writers' illicit archives, often risking their own lives to do so. They established a tradition all their own, unmatched in the West.Many of these women, like Vera and Sofia, were the writers' intellectual companions and willingly contributed to the creative process--they commonly used the word "we" to describe the progress of their husbands' work. And their husbands knew it too. Leo Tolstoy made no secret of Sofia's involvement in War and Peace, and Vladimir Nabokov referred to Vera as his own "single shadow."
About the Author
Alexandra Popoff is the author of the award-winning biography Sophia Tolstoy: A Biography and The Wives: The Women Behind Russia's Literary Giants, a Wall Street Journal "Best Book of the Year." She has written for Russian national newspapers and magazines in Moscow and, as an Alfred Friendly Press Fellow, published articles in The Philadelphia Inquirer and its Sunday magazine. She has also contributed to The Huffington Post and The Boston Globe. Popoff lives in Canada where she obtained post-graduate degrees in Russian and English literature.