An Expendable Soul

by Maria Rodziewiczówna (author) and Tom Pinch (translator)

​

Life and Love in Siberian Exile 1870

​

Move over Turgenev and Dostoevsky! 27-year-old Maria Rodziewiczówna put her pen to paper to record her experiences as a political exile in Siberia: the daily struggle to survive, the extraordinary life of the steppe, the severity and beauty of nature, and the psychology of the exiles: some withering and dying, some barely eking out a living, and others adapting, making a success of it, and--finding love.

​

​

The Author

 

Maria Rodziewiczówna (1863-1944) was one of the most prolific and successful Polish authors of her times and nearly all her books remain popular and in print today. She was descended from a gentry family, which, for its participation in the 1863 uprising was exiled to Siberia. She was raised in very difficult circumstances and was entirely self-taught beyond sixth grade.  Coming of age, she inherited a heavily indebted country estate, cut her hair short, assumed man's clothing, and took over the management of the farm, at which she proved very successful. She modernized production, drained marshes, built roads, and schools, and clinics, paid off all debt. And throughout, she wrote novels: 46 of them, of which most remain in print today because of their superior literary style.

​

​

EBOOK:  978-2-919820-07-8 (Kindle)
$3.99

210 pages

Publication date: 12/26/2022