Sasha the Serf, and Other Stories of Russian Life

These are the stories Russia tried to forget. Written in the twilight of serfdom, this collection gives voice to the voiceless: the peasants bound to land they do not own, the children who learned to fear before they learned to read. Sasha, a young serf, walks through the forest with his grandfather, carrying wood that will warm the baron's house, and asks the question that haunts the collection: why does this forest belong to him and not us? It is a simple question, but its simplicity is devastating. The bear encounter that follows serves as both rite of passage and reckoning, a confrontation with the wild, untamed world that exists just beyond the baron's control. These are intimate stories of small rebellions and quieter despairs, of families who love fiercely even as the system grinds them down. They were written just before emancipation, when Russia held its breath between an old world and one it could not yet imagine.