Spark: a romance

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolai Leskov, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, and Nikolai Nekrasov spoke enthusiastically about the works of Sofya Ivanovna Smirnova-Sazonova, as did critics Akim Volynsky and Nikolai Mikhailovsky. The Knigovek Book Club presents the writer's debut novel, "Ogonek," to readers. Sofya Smirnova displayed extraordinary literary talent from a young age. She was only 19 when her first novel, "Ogonek," about Klavdia Rakitina, a follower of Vera Pavlovna from Chernyshevsky's "What's to Be Done?", a girl from an aristocratic family, passionate and honest, proud and independent, was published in the magazine Otechestvennye Zapiski in 1871. After "Ogonek," Smirnova's novels "Salt of the Earth," "The Trustee of the Educational District," and "Strength of Character" appeared one after another in Otechestvennye Zapiski. They provoked many conflicting critical opinions, but were highly praised by Saltykov-Shchedrin, Leskov, and Chekhov. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was friends with Sofya Ivanovna and greatly valued her literary talent. Her novels were popular with readers as well—by the early 1900s, each had been reprinted twice.