The gambler wife : a true story of love, risk, and the woman who saved Dostoyevsky / Andrew D. Kaufman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kaufman, Andrew D. (Andrew David), 1969- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dostoevskai︠a︡, Anna Grigorʹevna Snitkina, 1846-1918.

Dostoevskai︠a︡, Anna Grigorʹevna Snitkina.

Dostoevskai͡a, Anna Grigorʹevna Snitkina, 1846-1918.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821-1881.

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor.

Authors' spouses--Russia--Biography.

Authors' spouses.

Novelists, Russian--19th century--Biography.

Novelists, Russian.

Russia.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 374 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Riverhead Books, 2021.

Summary:

"An intimate new portrait of the bold and determined woman who saved Dostoyevsky's life--and became a pioneer in Russian literary history. In the fall of 1866--against the backdrop of Russia's first feminist movement--an independent-minded young stenographer named Anna Snitkina went to work for a writer she idolized: Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The volatile and visionary novelist was already a celebrated literary provocateur, yet Anna found him 'terribly unhappy, broken, tormented,' sickened by epilepsy, anguished by the recent loss of his wife--and in thrall to a gambling addiction that kept him on the verge of emotional and financial ruin. Shocked by his condition, the strong-willed Anna quickly became his confidante, then his wife, and soon his manager--launching one of literature's most turbulent and fascinating marriages. Now, for the first time, The Gambler Wife gives us a rich and psychologically acute portrait of the complex power dynamic between the tortured Fyodor, who created his greatest works (including The Possessed and The Brothers Karamazov) under her care, and the courageous Anna, who inspired Dostoyevsky, directed his career--and became the first woman in Russia to run her own publishing house. Full of dramatic set pieces, and drawing on a trove of unseen writings, The Gambler Wife is a story of love, addiction, and redemption, and a rediscovery of a woman whose pioneering life has long been obscured by literary historians"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: I. THE GAMBLE

1. The Decent Thing to Do

2. The Gambler

3. A Novel Proposal

4. What is to Be Done?

5. Crossing the Threshold

II. THE RECKONING

6. A New Beginning

7. The "Gambler Wife"

8. Turgenev

9. Life and Fate

10. The Possessed

11. The Final Spin

III. THE PAYOFF

12. The Publisher

13. A Test

14. At the Prophets Side

15. Death of a Husband

IV. THE LONG TWILIGHT

16. High Priestess of Dostoyevsky

17. Death of a Wife.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 355-362) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Kaufman, Andrew, 1969- The gambler wife

ISBN:

9780525537144

0525537147

OCLC:

1237102198