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

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Riverhead Books, 2021Copyright date: ©2021Description: xxiv, 374 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780525537144
  • 0525537147
Subject(s): Genre/Form: 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.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Biography DOSTOEVS A. K21 Available 33111010553663
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

FINALIST FOR THE PEN JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY

"Feminism, history, literature, politics--this tale has all of that, and a heroine worthy of her own turn in the spotlight." --Therese Anne Fowler, bestselling author of Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald

A revelatory new portrait of the courageous woman who saved Dostoyevsky's life--and became a pioneer in Russian literary history

In the fall of 1866, a twenty-year-old stenographer named Anna Snitkina applied for a position with a writer she idolized: Fyodor Dostoyevsky. A self-described "girl of the sixties," Snitkina had come of age during Russia's first feminist movement, and Dostoyevsky--a notorious radical turned acclaimed novelist--had impressed the young woman with his enlightened and visionary fiction. Yet in person she found the writer "terribly unhappy, broken, tormented," weakened by epilepsy, and yoked to a ruinous gambling addiction. Alarmed by his condition, Anna became his trusted first reader and confidante, then his wife, and finally his business manager--launching one of literature's most turbulent and fascinating marriages.

The Gambler Wife offers a fresh and captivating portrait of Anna Dostoyevskaya, who reversed the novelist's freefall and cleared the way for two of the most notable careers in Russian letters--her husband's and her own. Drawing on diaries, letters, and other little-known archival sources, Andrew Kaufman reveals how Anna protected her family from creditors, demanding in-laws, and her greatest romantic rival, through years of penury and exile. We watch as she navigates the writer's self-destructive binges in the casinos of Europe--even hazarding an audacious turn at roulette herself--until his addiction is conquered. And, finally, we watch as Anna frees her husband from predatory contracts by founding her own publishing house, making Anna the first solo female publisher in Russian history.

The result is a story that challenges ideas of empowerment, sacrifice, and female agency in nineteenth-century Russia--and a welcome new appraisal of an indomitable woman whose legacy has been nearly lost to literary history.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"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.

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