Correspondence to S. A. Tolstoy and T. A. Kuzminskaya: on the Creative History of the Novel “Anna Karenina”

The article examines the unpublished correspondence of S.A. Tolstoy with T.A. Kuzminskaya as the most important epistolary source about the life and work of L.N. Tolstoy, which has not yet been introduced into a wider scientific context. Letters from sisters in the 1870-s. together with the writer’s confessions, they make it possible to reconstruct the history of the creation of “Anna Karenina”: to restore the course of events that influenced the creative process and created a certain spiritual atmosphere during the writing of the novel, to identify the range of the author’s creative interests, which often distracted him from an already begun plan, to see the features of his work rhythm. Letters from S.A. Tolstoy, who has closely observed the writer for many years both in everyday life and during periods of creative passion, creates a complete image of Tolstoy – not only a writer, but also a husband, father, owner of the estate, and gives the reader the effect of being present in an event that has long ago become history. Letters from T.A. Kuzminskaya, conveying the reader’s perception, fit into the numerous responses of contemporaries and at the same time stand out among them due to the closeness of the correspondent to the author’s family. Epistolary communication between two very close people allows us to look at a masterpiece of world literature as part of the Tolstoy family chronicle.