8 h 40 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 40 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
How far apart can two people live while sharing the same house?
In The Wife, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov places a strained marriage against hardship in the Russian countryside. Two people share a home but remain distant from each other. Their relationship brings questions of duty and feeling into focus, without turning their troubles into a series of loud quarrels.
The other stories in this collection watch ordinary people at home, at work and in small crises. Chekhov observes rather than judges. A gesture, a silence or a passing remark can carry the weight of a whole relationship. His quiet, exact style asks you to notice what people leave unsaid.
What you’ll discover
- A marriage lived apart Enter the title story’s shared home, where closeness of space does not mean closeness of feeling.
- People before judgments Meet ordinary people through the patient attention of a writer who also trained as a doctor.
- Details that carry weight Notice how a closed door or a momentary look can hold a story’s moral weight.
- Small failures, real feeling Explore marriage and duty through everyday troubles that need no clear villain to matter.
- Endings that stay open Find stories that leave room for thought instead of tying every thread into place.
Who will love it
Readers who love short stories with sharp portraits, quiet humour and unspoken feeling will enjoy this collection. It suits admirers of nineteenth century Russian life, strained marriages and tales that leave questions behind.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Good principles do not guarantee kindness
- Family cruelty passes between generations
- Admiration can hide what matters
- Fame cannot supply a life's meaning
- Fear can govern a whole town
- Comfort can close our eyes
- Reasoning can keep love silent
- Imagined wealth reveals hidden resentment
- Ordinary scenes leave lasting questions
Who’s who
- Pavel AndreitchAn engineer who prides himself on principle, he gives to famine relief yet cannot reach his wife or understand his own unease.
- Natalya GavrilovnaHis wife, who has found purpose in organising help for hungry villagers and wants only to be left to do it.
- Olga IvanovnaA lively young wife who collects famous artists and wants a life of brilliance beside her quiet doctor husband.
- DymovA gentle, hardworking doctor who loves his wife, cuts his fingers in dissections and asks for nothing in return.
- Nikolay StepanovitchA celebrated, ageing professor who cannot sleep, loves science above all and cannot say what his life has been for.
- KatyaHis orphaned ward, once an actress, who lies on a sofa and begs him to tell her what to do with her life.
- ByelikovA Greek teacher who lives behind galoshes, umbrella and rules, and fears anything the authorities have not permitted.
- Ivan IvanovitchA veterinary surgeon who tells of his brother's gooseberry dream and urges his listeners not to settle into contentment.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- 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.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
The Wife, and Other Stories in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Wife, and Other Stories
An engineer gives five thousand roubles to starving peasants and cannot say why he feels so uneasy at home.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“If Chekhov had not been such a remarkable writer, he would have been a great doctor.”
In short
Picture an engineer who gives five thousand roubles to feed starving peasants and then cannot say why he feels so sick at heart. That is where this book begins, in the title story, The Wife.
The Wife, and Other Stories at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h3 h 55 min fast, 5 h 55 min slow
- Length
- 70,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A husband takes over his wife's famine relief
Pavel Andreitch, an engineer who is writing a history of railways, receives an anonymous letter about hunger in the village of Pestrovo. He decides to give five thousand roubles, yet he cannot see how to spend it. He distrusts the officials, the neighbours and the young.
His wife, Natalya Gavrilovna, lives on the ground floor of the same house, and the two have lived apart in spirit for two years. He tells himself that his love is dead, yet he listens for her voice through the floor. When an old friend comes to advise him, he calls her upstairs. Within minutes the old quarrel flares, and she accuses him of using the famine to feed his vanity. That night he learns that she has already gathered eight thousand roubles.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer. Your place follows you, and you can make the type as big as you like.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 35 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich. The Wife, and Other Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-wife-and-other-stories.
Chekhov, A. P. (2026). The wife, and other stories. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-wife-and-other-stories
Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich. The Wife, and Other Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-wife-and-other-stories.
@book{chekhov2026wife,
author = {Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich},
title = {The Wife, and Other Stories},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-wife-and-other-stories}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Wife, and Other Stories
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Wife and Other Stories about?
It collects nine Chekhov stories on marriage, ambition, family and conscience in Russian life. Each follows ordinary people, such as a landowner, a student, a professor and a clerk, as they face moments that show who they truly are.
What does the man in a case mean?
It names Byelikov, a Greek teacher who hides behind galoshes, an umbrella and rules to avoid real life. The phrase has come to describe anyone who shuts out change and fears what other people think.
Who is Katya in A Dreary Story?
Katya is the orphaned ward of the professor Nikolay Stepanovitch. She has left the theatre after a failed love and now visits him each day. She is the one person with whom he feels at ease.
The author
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
1860–1904 · Russian playwright and story writer
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904) was a Russian writer and physician. He was born in Taganrog and lived in Moscow and later Yalta. He wrote short stories and plays, including The Seagull (1896), Uncle Vanya (1897), and The Cherry Orchard (1904). He died in Badenweiler, Germany.
“A man doesn’t need six feet of earth or a farm, but the whole globe, all of nature”
More by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
See all their booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
