Обрыв

Boris Raisky returns to his provincial hometown, determined to paint the living texture of Russian life before it disappears. A sophisticated man of the world, he finds himself entangled with three women who embody different possibilities of existence: the passionate and inexplicable Vera, the rational and loyal Margaryta, and the worldly Praskovya. Around him, the old patriarchal order crumbles as «new forces», radicals and reformers, reshape the landscape. The novel, which Goncharov labored over for twenty years and called «the child of his heart,» stands as his most personal meditation on what it means to stand at the edge of history, watching one world dissolve while another struggles to be born. It is a profound examination of artistic creation, romantic obsession, and the terrible beauty of change.