First published 2018
Nikolai Stavrogin sits in his study, preparing to confess the darkest secret of his life. The charismatic nobleman who has captivated and corrupted everyone around him must finally confront what he has done. These three chapters, cut from The Possessed before publication, reveal the crime that drives Stavrogin's self-destruction and his desperate attempt at redemption through confession. The translation includes Stavrogin's written confession of his abuse of a young girl and his torment over her subsequent suicide. A priest listens as Stavrogin seeks absolution, but finds only judgment. The chapters also contain Dostoyevsky's notes for an unfinished novel about a great sinner's journey toward salvation. S. S. Koteliansky's translation brings these suppressed passages to English readers for the first time. The material shows Dostoyevsky grappling with themes of guilt, faith, and moral responsibility that would define his later masterworks. Stavrogin emerges not as the mysterious figure of the published novel, but as a man consumed by shame and searching desperately for a path back to human connection.
Genres: abuse, 20th-century, 19th-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: redemption, self-destruction
Setting: Russia
Period: 19th Century
106 pages · Paperback · CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Content warnings: abuse, child-abuse, suicide