The Wives

The Women Behind Russia's Literary Giants

Alexandra Popoff

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Year: 2012
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9781453249413
• Subtopic: Literary Biographies
• Index: Literature

An " i ntriguing collection of biographies of six extraordinary women... Fascinating proof that being a writer's wife is a profession in itself" ( Kirkus Reviews ).
"Behind every good man is a good woman" is a common saying, but when it comes to literature, the relationship between spouses is even that much more complex. F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, and D. H. Lawrence used their marriages for literary inspiration and material, sometime at the expense of their spouses' sanity. Thomas Carlyle wanted his wife to assist him, but Jane Carlyle became increasingly bitter and resentful in her new role, putting additional strain on their relationship. In Russian literary marriages, however, the wives of some of the most famous authors of all time 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 Sophia Tolstoy to Véra Nabokov, Elena Bulgakov, Nadezdha Mandelstam, Anna Dostevsky, 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 were the writers' intellectual companions and made invaluable contributions to the creative process. And their husbands knew it. Leo Tolstoy made no secret of Sofia's involvement in War and Peace in his letters, and Vladimir Nabokov referred to Véra as his own "single shadow."

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Dedication
• A Note on Russian Names
• Prologue
• CHAPTER ONE: Anna Dostoevsky: Cherishing a Memory
• CHAPTER TWO: Sophia Tolstoy: Nursemaid of Talent
• CHAPTER THREE: Nadezhda Mandelstam: Witness to Poetry
• CHAPTER FOUR: Véra Nabokov: Making a Single Shadow
• CHAPTER FIVE: Elena Bulgakov: Mysterious Margarita
• CHAPTER SIX: Natalya Solzhenitsyn: “Sister of My Work”
• Epilogue
• Endnotes
• Select Bibliography
• Index
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author
• Copyright Page