Life with the father - Memoirs of the daughter of Leo Tolstoy

Author: Alexandra Tolstaya Publisher: Dar Al-Rafidain Number of pages: 424 The author of the book is the youngest daughter of Leo Tolstoy, Alexandra Tolstaya, who lived alongside her father for twenty-five years until the day of his death, and was one of his closest people, not only through kinship but also spiritually and through a deep understanding of his creativity. She shared his ideas and beliefs from the core of her soul. She continues in her memoirs to trace the growth of these relationships, especially in the last years of the writer's life, when he was going through a spiritual and family crisis, in need of love and understanding. It is a lively and interesting memoir that reliably depicts the life of the family and the surrounding world, and recounts the circumstances of the last years of the great writer’s life, when Tolstoy decided to relinquish his rights as an author and place his works freely into the public domain, while his wife rejected this option and fought to have the rights of publication in her name, because it was the family's livelihood. The daughter stood on the side of her father in this dramatic dispute, and trusting her, he gave her the right to manage his works after his departure. He also revealed to her in detail the secret of his departure from Yasnaya Polyana before he died in front of her eyes. The pages depict Tolstoy’s daily lifestyle as he works, produces, and interacts with others. Unlike many memoirs, Alexandra presents Tolstoy without embellishments, as a worldly man, a man of work, cheerful, and loving life. He is not only a profound thinker and a genius writer, but when needed, he invents entertaining games, engages in them, composes light songs, and dances traditional folk dances. The author also takes us on a broad tour of Russia, primarily in areas related to Tolstoy, especially the family estate in Yasnaya Polyana, which today is one of the most important Russian cultural landmarks, visited annually by thousands of tourists. It is an exciting book, indispensable for lovers of the most skillful storytellers.