Join author Alex Christofi in conversation with Sophy Roberts as they discuss Russia's angsty, addicted master of psychology and philosophy.
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s life was marked by brilliance and brutality. Sentenced to death as a young revolutionary, he survived mock execution and Siberian exile to live through a time of seismic change in Russia, eventually being accepted into the Tsar’s inner circle. He had three great love affairs, each overshadowed by debilitating epilepsy and addiction to gambling. Somehow, amidst all this, he found time to write short stories, journalism and novels such as Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov, works now recognised as among the finest ever written.
In Dostoevsky in Love (released later this month) Alex Christofi weaves carefully chosen excerpts of the author’s work with the historical context to form an illuminating and accessible whole. The result is a novelistic life that immerses the reader in a grand vista of Dostoevsky’s Russia: from the Siberian prison camp to the gambling halls of Europe; from the dank prison cells of the Tsar’s fortress to the refined salons of St Petersburg. Along the way, Christofi relates the stories of the three women whose lives were so deeply intertwined with Dostoevsky’s: the consumptive widow Maria; the impetuous Polina who had visions of assassinating the Tsar; and the faithful stenographer Anna, who did so much to secure his literary legacy.
Join Alex Christofi, in conversation with Sophy Roberts, author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia, as they discuss Dostoevsky - a shy but devoted lover, an empathetic friend of the people, a loyal brother and friend, and a writer able to penetrate to the very depths of the human soul.
As well as working as editorial director at Transworld Publishers, Alex Christofi writes occasional essays, reviews and other short pieces, which have been published in the Guardian, New Humanist, Prospect, The White Review, The Brixton Review of Books and The London Magazine. His books have been translated into French, Dutch, German, Greek and Russian.
He has published two novels, Glass (2015) and Let Us Be True (2017). The former was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and won the Betty Trask Prize. His new book, Dostoevsky in Love (Bloomsbury, 2021), is an intimate biography of the writer and his relationships. He lives in south London.
Headshot image credit: Will Ablett.
Sophy Roberts is a writer based in West Dorset, England. She focuses on remote parts of the world where she can report on wildlife conservation, threats to eco-systems and fragile cultures. Sometimes she shoots stories as well as writes them and she frequently collaborates with major photographers.
Sophy has worked as editor-at-large for Condé Nast Traveller (UK), Departures (US), special correspondent for Condé Nast Traveler (US), travel editor for The Economist 1843, and as a columnist for FT How To Spend It. She continues to write regularly for FT Weekend.
The Lost Pianos of Siberia is her first book, published by Doubleday in the UK (February 2020), and Grove Press in the US (August 2020).
Headshot image credit: Michael Turek.