As my love of Russian literature is no secret, I guess I’m the obvious candidate to be reviewing another excellent book from Columbia University Press in their Russian Library series. Their latest one is a real treat, too, in the form of a comedy of manners from a neglected 19th century woman author – and it set me thinking about the lack of female representation in the canon of Russian writing from that century.
The author of “City Folk and Country Folk”, Sofia Khvoshchinskaya, was one of three Russian writer sisters and her book features wonderfully feisty female characters at the centre of the story. It’s a witty, sparkling and yet pithy read and I wonder how many other women writers we’re missing accessing in our Anglophone world because of a lack of translation.
Sofia Khvoshchinskaya has been tagged as a Russian Bronte by the publisher, although in many ways she could be said to more resemble Austen. However, she’s a wonderfully fresh voice coming to us from the Russian past – you can read my full review here at Shiny New Books, and I recommend this one highly!
Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings 
Dec 05, 2017 @ 11:26:16
This one certainly is a treat! The accepted wisdom is that Russian women didn’t write in the 19th century, but in fact some did, they’re just not read much in the original, let alone translated. Even in American universities the general thought seems to be that they’re just not worth reading, echoing the words of their male contemporaries that what they were producing was inferior. A real shame and not true, but it’s good to see a few female authors being rediscovered these days.
Dec 05, 2017 @ 11:30:35
That’s really interesting! I’m not knowledgeable enough about the untranslated works to know what’s out there, but on the evidence of this one the Russian females were definitely producing wonderful works, and I particularly loved the feisty and non-conforming heroine! 🙂
Dec 05, 2017 @ 11:31:58
She is fun! The whole book was full of zip and zing.
Dec 05, 2017 @ 11:33:27
She was and it was! 🙂
Dec 05, 2017 @ 17:24:26
Currently reading “The Hollow Man” based on your recommendation (like it so far) and now you tell me about this book which I definitely need, you are definitely not helping me keep my book budget… Great review!
Dec 05, 2017 @ 18:28:19
Yay! Glad you’re enjoying the JDC! 🙂 And this is a good one too. Book budgets are not a good thing…
Dec 05, 2017 @ 19:08:50
Well, I thought mine was fairly generous but I would still have been tempted to break it (even more) if it wasn’t for the large book package that’s already coming my way. So I’ll try to show off my moderation by waiting until January…
Dec 05, 2017 @ 21:14:47
Very restrained… 😉
Dec 05, 2017 @ 19:39:01
Thanks Karen, I’ll definitely try to get my hands on Khvoshchinskaya’s novel, it sounds like a real treat!
Dec 05, 2017 @ 21:14:17
It is! I loved it! 🙂
Dec 06, 2017 @ 00:42:54
Omg this sounds amazing!! It’s heartbreaking to think of all the women writers whose work has been lost/suppressed/unpublished over the years. It’s certainly worth celebrating when works like this are republished. Thanks for sharing!
Dec 06, 2017 @ 09:10:58
It really is scary to think how many great books we might be missing simply because they haven’t been translated. So yay for translators who are now redressing the balance, I say! 🙂
Dec 10, 2017 @ 17:57:53
Translators are unsung heroes!
Dec 10, 2017 @ 20:22:21
They really are! 🙂
Dec 06, 2017 @ 07:22:38
A Russian Austen sounds great! I’d really like to read more Russian female writers in translation.
Dec 06, 2017 @ 09:10:00
Me too. I suspect there are many more lurking we don’t know about – I mean, the wonderful Teffi! Why have I never come across her before recent translations?????
Dec 06, 2017 @ 12:06:30
This is a new one on me, Karen. I have to say, it sounds right up your street – you seem to have a knack for unearthing these discoveries. 🙂
Dec 06, 2017 @ 13:20:36
She was a completely new author to me, too – and a wonderful find. I *do* try to keep my eyes open for new and interesting translations from the Russian… 🙂
Dec 06, 2017 @ 12:14:17
How fascinating, and well done to the publishers for unearthing this excellent-sounding author.
Dec 06, 2017 @ 13:08:58
They really are doing a grand job in bringing out some lost Russian classics – marvellous stuff!
Dec 06, 2017 @ 18:53:49
I’ve looked at these Russian Library volumes more than once but they always seem a little intimidating – this one sounds like a treat, however, and therefore a good place to start!
Dec 07, 2017 @ 17:33:48
They’re very pretty and very interesting – and yes, this one would be definitely a good way in as it’s not challenging at all!
Dec 09, 2017 @ 12:43:55
Î loved this book, Karen! I’ll read your review over at SNB now 🙂
Dec 09, 2017 @ 20:17:19
It’s wonderful, isn’t it? 🙂
Dec 10, 2017 @ 21:44:23
Kuhl! I actually have a copy of this e-book, which I had forgotten about it. Now I must put it on my TBR all over again.
Dec 11, 2017 @ 11:20:20
Definitely! I think it’s the kind of thing you’d love!
Dec 16, 2017 @ 14:00:32
Sounds like a wonderful book, thanks for bringing it to wider attention. My old copy of Yale Press’ Handbook of Russian Literature (yes, another lover of Russian literature here) doesn’t even list her, though it does contain an entry for her sister, Nadezhda, who wrote poems and novels under the pen name of V. Krestovsky. Nadezhda’s themes sound similar to Sofia’s – the suffering and loneliness of educated mid-19th century women who were never given a chance to apply their talents and idealism to a worthy cause. Her heroines took to social protest to make their voices heard. Look forward to your under covering even more forgotten writers who are worthy of rediscovery.
Dec 16, 2017 @ 15:39:03
Very welcome! It *is* interesting and rather a shame that authors of this calibre aren’t more widely known, and hopefully the current trend for translating lesser known works will redress the balance a bit more. It fascinates me that there could be so many more women authors we don’t know about simply because they aren’t available in English!
Dec 17, 2017 @ 14:34:29
Is there any way to contact you? We publish translations of Russian authors, which might be of interest for you.
Dec 17, 2017 @ 17:04:26
Hi Ksenia, as you can probably tell, translations of Russian authors are of *great* interest to me! You can contact me at kaggsysbookishramblings (at) gmail (dot) com
Spending time on the Russian countryside | I read that in a book
Feb 23, 2018 @ 19:39:37