7 h 8 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if love offers you a new life, but the past still has a claim on your heart?
In Ivan Turgenev's A Nobleman's Nest, Fyodor Lavretsky returns to provincial Russia after years abroad and a failed marriage. He hopes for a quiet, useful life. Then he meets Liza Kalitina, a serious young woman whose faith and sense of duty shape her every choice.
Around them, Marya Dmitrievna's household buzzes with visitors, conversation and rival hopes. The young official Panshin hopes to win Liza, while Lavretsky begins to believe happiness is possible again. Yet family history and promises weigh on that hope. Can he follow his wishes without breaking a bond that still matters?
What you’ll discover
- Love that grows slowly Follow Lavretsky and Liza as affection brings fresh hope into lives shaped by the past.
- The claims of duty Consider what happiness can ask of people who want, above all, to do right.
- A household full of hopes Meet an outspoken aunt, an ambitious suitor and a poor music teacher with an artist's heart.
- Russia beyond the drawing room Enter neglected estates and country landscapes in a clear-eyed portrait of the Russian gentry.
- Quiet feeling, closely observed Discover how Turgenev's calm storytelling gives weight to private wishes, old wounds and difficult choices.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy Russian fiction of feeling, gentle love stories, country estates in spring, and characters drawn with warmth and a dry sense of humor.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A provincial household gathers around gossip and news
- A charming official and a lonely musician visit the Kalitins
- Generations of family pride and cruelty shaped Lavretzky
- A strict upbringing leaves a gentle man unprepared for life
- A brilliant marriage ends in a scrap of paper
- Coming home to a sleepy estate brings a strange peace
- Liza's faith and plain honesty begin to draw him out
- A piece of news brings hope and uneasy questions
- The book asks what we owe to others and to God
Who’s who
- Feodor LavretzkyA strong, gentle landowner who returns to Russia after a failed marriage and hopes to work his land and live honorably.
- Liza KalitinA serious, devout young woman of nineteen who must choose between a suitor her mother favors and her own conscience.
- Varvara PavlovnaLavretzky's beautiful, clever and calculating wife, who knows exactly how to charm people and get what she wants.
- Marfa TimofeevnaLiza's sharp-tongued old aunt, who tells everyone the truth and loves Lavretzky and Liza fiercely.
- Christopher LemmA poor German music teacher, ignored for years, who adores Liza and pours his lonely heart into his music.
- Vladimir PanshinA fashionable Petersburg official and amateur artist who courts Liza and wants to rise high in the government.
- Marya Dmitrievna KalitinLiza's sentimental, easily upset mother, who loves comfort, drama and a good match for her daughter.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 7 h 8 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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A Nobleman's Nest
by Ivan Turgenev · 1859
A man returns to his family's province after years abroad and meets a girl whose faith unsettles his calm.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What does a man do with the rest of his life when his marriage lies in ruins? Ivan Turgenev answers with A Nobleman's Nest, a Russian novel of the mid nineteenth century.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A provincial household gathers around gossip and news
The story opens on a spring evening in the town of O, where Marya Kalitin sits at her window with her aunt, Marfa Timofeevna. Marya is a sentimental widow who cries when she is crossed. Marfa is a tiny, sharp old woman in a white cap who tells everyone the plain truth.
Their visitor is Gedeonovsky, a smooth gossip who kisses hands and tells lies with a straight face. He brings astonishing news: their cousin Feodor Lavretzky has come home. Everyone knows his wife betrayed him and made herself the talk of Europe. Marfa snaps that the man is not to blame. She says her bright scarf is for someone who never schemes or lies, if such a person exists.
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What is A Nobleman's Nest about?
It follows Feodor Lavretzky, a landowner who returns to Russia after a broken marriage. He meets Liza Kalitin, a devout young woman, and falls in love with her. The novel explores love, duty and the weight of family history.
Who is Lemm in A Nobleman's Nest?
Christopher Lemm is an elderly German music teacher who lives in the provincial town. He is poor, ignored and gifted, and he loves Liza as his best pupil. His music gives the story some of its most moving scenes.
What does the title A Nobleman's Nest mean?
The nest stands for the family home and the old landowning life, with its memories, ties and duties. The book asks whether a nobleman can build a happy nest of his own after the past has damaged it.
The author
Ivan Turgenev
1818–1883 · Russian novelist
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short-story writer and playwright. He was born in Oryol in 1818 and died near Paris in 1883. He lived in Russia, Germany and France. His books include A Nobleman’s Nest (1859), Fathers and Sons (1862) and Virgin Soil (1877).
More by Ivan Turgenev
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