The last season

In 1910, following the publication of Anna Karenina and War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy was one of the most famous authors in the world. But fame comes at a price. Desperate to find peace at the end of his life, Tolstoy fled home, abandoning his family, his wife, and his thirteen children, ultimately dying alone in a bed at a small Russian train station. Set during the tumultuous last year of the writer's life, this work focuses on the struggle for Tolstoy's soul. Based on the diaries of the writer and those close to him, including his wife, daughter, and doctor, Jay Parini has created a historical novel that, told in different voices, combines fact and fiction. Readers will learn about the count's tempestuous relationship with his wife, as well as the mental anguish of the man who professed the virtues of poverty and chastity while living a life of great privilege. Tolstoy's tragedy is that of someone whose journey was marked by contradictions, making it easy to understand why, in his last days, he felt compelled to flee forever the home he had known since childhood. An engaging portrait that will surely inspire further investigations into the original sources that allowed for the creation of this book, proving to be an indispensable work for anyone seeking to learn more about the master of Russian literature.