A page turner and what an interesting view of Leo Tolstoy for those who love his writing. ( )

sad. she was so busy, so unappreciated. she discovered her husband loved another man. she wanted to save him from eternal damnation. she looked after his properties, wrote out his compositions, looked after 12? children without much help. ( )

Sofia was very upset with Tolstoy for many years as he seemed to be in love with a man. She felt she had to stop this so she kept on and on and on and on. ( )

"The rocks in her head fitted the holes in his"


This is a difficult book to review, as many people have pointed out, because a a diary meant for only Sofia's eyes that served (as she herself pointed out) as a vent in dealing with her admittedly impossible husband suffers from distortion and bias. It unfortunately was also sporadically set aside as events grew too difficult for even Sofia to write down, particularly as depression and illness left her poorly equipped to write about the turmoil of early revolutionary Russia. If one can wade through the hysterical outbursts (which start on page one when Leo very unwisely reveals his bachelor sins to his very unworldly teenage fiancee) the reader can have a rewarding view of the seasons's turnings in 19th century Russia, the sheer work in keeping a manor house running, and a portrait of a mutally dependent, psychologically unhealthy marriage. ( )

"The rocks in her head fitted the holes in his"This is a difficult book to review, as many people have pointed out, because a a diary meant for only Sofia's eyes that served (as she herself pointed out) as a vent in dealing with her admittedly impossible husband suffers from distortion and bias. It unfortunately was also sporadically set aside as events grew too difficult for even Sofia to write down, particularly as depression and illness left her poorly equipped to write about the turmoil of early revolutionary Russia. If one can wade through the hysterical outbursts (which start on page one when Leo very unwisely reveals his bachelor sins to his very unworldly teenage fiancee) the reader can have a rewarding view of the seasons's turnings in 19th century Russia, the sheer work in keeping a manor house running, and a portrait of a mutally dependent, psychologically unhealthy marriage. ( )