The Diaries of Sofia Tolstoy

Starred review from November 1, 2010
Spanning 57 years, Sofia Tolstoy's diaries are an extraordinary chronicle of a woman who was her husband's secretary, proofreader, editor, housekeeper, agent, and nurse. Though she notes countless quarrels, the marriage grew from a youthful romance and had many happy moments. "Could any marriage be more... harmonious than ours?" But as the years pass, marital discord flares up more often. Spurning worldly concerns, Tolstoy leaves his wife in charge of the estate and children ("A man of genius is always so much better in his works than his life!" she laments). As she works tirelessly on his behalf, resentments accumulate and by the end of Tolstoy's life their relationship is marred by power struggles between Sofia, her children, and acolyte Vladimir Chertov over ownership of the Tolstoy's work. No doubt Sofia could be vain ("I want people to... say how pretty I am," she writes, "to my own horror"), but she was a remarkable woman, tireless worker, and an unrelenting advocate for her husband to the end of his life. She yearned for the pleasure of her own creative pursuits, often questioned her fate, and even contemplated suicide, but she never doubted Leo's genius or wavered in her commitment to his legacy. For that, generations of readers owe her a debt of gratitude.

May 15, 2010
A lively reworked translation of Sofia Tolstoy's diaries, first published in Russia in 1978 and the United Kingdom in 1985.

Sixteen years younger than the already famous Russian novelist, as well as self-consciously less educated and worldly, Sofia Behrs was 18 when they married in 1862. For most of the next five decades the couple lived at his ancestral 4,000-acre estate at Yasnaya Polyana, a perennial bane to upkeep, especially as Sofia was absorbed in the care and education of their 13 children (several died of illnesses) while her husband was engrossed in his writing and fame. In this diary she kept from 1862 until her death in 1919 (her husband died in 1910), Sofia indicated early on troubling fissures between the two that grew wider and more perilous as the years passed. There was a large rift between Tolstoy's idealized version of family life and what Sofia learned was truly the case—his emotional coldness (which he made up in sexual ardor), disregard for the care of the children and belittling of her role in his greatness."There are times in this useless life of mine," she wrote in 1890,"when I am overwhelmed with despair and long to kill myself, run away, fall in love with someone else—anything not to have to live with this man who for some reason I have always loved." Despite the domestic drudgery, she insisted on copying out his corrected pages, which kept her involved in his life and immersed in his artistry."Nothing touches me so deeply as his ideas, his genius," she wrote in late 1866, when she was copying War and Peace. However, the bitterness continued to seep in, as well as a yearning for"some personal happiness, a private life and work of my own"—and, above all, the desire to feel needed and have her love returned.

Uneven, hauntingly revealing and gorgeously sad, these entries reveal a wife's desperate love and estrangement from her brilliant but complex and troubled husband.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 15, 2010
Sofia was 19 and innocent when her new husband, Leo Tolstoy, 34, handed her his sexually candid diary, thus shattering her dream of romance and marital confidence. Smart and determined, she took refuge in her own diary, chronicling her daunting life as the wife of the self-absorbed genius who would write War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Sofia runs Tolstoys estate, gives birth to 13 children, mourns the 6 who died, and educates the rest. She copies Tolstoys manuscripts over and over again, oversees publication of his work, and contends with his scheming followers, whom she calls the dark ones. As dramatic as a great novel, translator Porters superb distillation of Sofias 57-year journal is true testimony to the struggles of a sensitive, deeply responsible, and creative thinker who loved nature, music, and life itself, yet was acutely lonely, overworked, and betrayed. Sofia Tolstoys involving diary sheds light on Russian history and the private life of one of the worlds greatest writers and tells the story of a woman of remarkable strength, industriousness, and passion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)