The Turgenev Family

Dust jacket notes: "This book, written in the eighties of the last century by a ward of Turgenev's mother, gives a vivid picture of life in the family of the famous author. it is an uncritical and simply truthful account of day-to-day events and of the strains and stresses of personal relationships. It paints a picture of a way of life so remote from our own as to be almost incredible and at the same time does much to explain Turgenev's psychology by exposing the influences against which he reacted so strongly. Barbara Petrovna, the mother of the author, around whom the story is centred, was a fantastic autocrat, the circumstances of whose life allowed full scope to all her vagaries. The tale of her last years only finds a parallel in the lives of some of the 'originals' of the eighteenth century. In this aspect the book reads like a novel, but it is also a document of serious interest to students of Russian social history as well as to lovers of Turgenev. The story originally appeared in a Russian periodical; it is now for the first time printed in book form, having been translated by Miss Mills. Professor Meyendorf has written a foreword which supplies background information for those who are unfamiliar with the period and personages mentioned in the book."