A lesser-known novella by one of the great masters of Russian literature, now available to English readers in a lucid translation, is presented with "Yakov Pasynkov," another story exploring the nature of love and human relations In a series of nine letters, the narrator tells his friend how he introduced Vera Nikolayevna, a married woman who had been forbidden as a child to read fiction and poetry, to the intellectual pleasures of Goethe"s masterpiece. Opening up in front of Vera"s eyes is not only the realm of imagination, but also a world of unbridled feelings and tempestuous passions, which can only shatter the comfort and safety of her existence and force her to set off on a journey of spiritual awakening.