Leo Tolstoy's wife Sophia is getting her say
Author Leo Tolstoy鈥檚 wife Sophia Andreevna Tolstoy is now getting a chance to tell her story.
Two novellas written by Sophia following the publication of her husband鈥檚 work 鈥淭he Kreutzer Sonata鈥� were recently discovered in the archives of the State Museum of L.N. Tolstoy in Moscow and will be released in English, according to . This will be the first time the works by Sophia will be available in English, according to publisher .
"The Kreutzer Sonata鈥� airs views on sexuality and marriage that were unorthodox for Tolstoy鈥檚 time 鈥� and finishes with the protagonist's murder of his wife. Many readers 鈥� then and now 鈥� have assumed that Tolstoy based the novel on his own marriage and his feelings about his wife.
According to the NYT, Sophia wrote in her diary, 鈥淚 do not know how or why everyone connected 鈥楾he Kreutzer Sonata鈥� with our own married life, but this is what has happened鈥�. And it isn鈥檛 just other people. I, too, know in my heart that this story is directed against me, and that it has done me a great wrong, humiliated me in the eyes of the world and destroyed the last vestiges of love between us.鈥� She said that her husband's book was 鈥渦ntrue in everything relating to a young woman鈥檚 experiences.鈥澛�
So she decided to write some stories of her own. Her work 鈥淲hose Fault?鈥� focuses on a teenage girl who dreams of marriage being an intellectual pairing in which the husband and wife can participate in the same pursuits. In the story, the protagonist, Anna, is pursued by a man much older than she is, mirroring the age difference between Leo and Sophia Tolstoy. Meanwhile, 鈥淪ong鈥� centers on a heroine who loves music and soon comes to be attracted to a composer. According to the NYT, it is widely believed that this story is based on Sophia鈥檚 friendship with composer Sergei Taneyev.聽
鈥淭he Kreutzer Sonata Variations,鈥� compiled and translated by Michael R. Katz, includes not only Sophia鈥檚 novellas but also Tolstoy鈥檚 original work, Sophia鈥檚 memoir 鈥淢y Life鈥� as well as other writings by her, and a story written by Leo Tolstoy鈥檚 son Lev Lvovich Tolstoy, 鈥淐hopin鈥檚 Prelude,鈥� that criticized 鈥淜reutzer.鈥�
Over the past few years, more work by Sophia Tolstoy has appeared, with an English version of 鈥淢y Life鈥� which was translated into English by Andrew Donskov being published in 2010. A biography by Alexandra Popoff, 鈥淪ophia Tolstoy,鈥� was also released in 2010. (In a Monitor review of this biography, reviewer Bob Blaisdell wrote that 鈥� thanks to the diaries and letters of the Tolstoys available to researchers 鈥� it is "possible to know more about the Tolstoy marriage than most of us know about our own.")
Katz is publishing his book 鈥淰ariations鈥� on Aug. 26. According to the NYT, he said of Sophia鈥檚 pieces 鈥淲hose Fault?鈥� and 鈥淪ong,鈥� 鈥淢y first reaction on reading the stories was astonishment that they had existed, and nobody knew about them. My second reaction was: These aren鈥檛 bad stories. They may not be first-rate literature, but they come from an educated, cultured, reflective woman of strong character who not only had views different from her husband鈥檚 but dared to express them, initially with the idea that they would be published.鈥澛�
