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What starts off as a seduction by a Russian nobleman of a orphan peasant girl , in the late 19th century during the Czarist era , will as pages turn and the flow of life advances into the unknown future , consequences follow, bad or good you the reader must decide. Prince Dmitri Nekhlyudov, from Moscow, heir to vast estates is visiting two aunts of his Maria and Sophia, who worship him, in their home in the countryside, they are large landowners too. Just nineteen, Dimitri is a student at the university, which he does more carousing than studying, constantly pestering his widowed mother, Princess Elena for more money. Katerina ( Katusha) Maslova , very pretty , a few years younger than the Prince has no family except an aunt, Matrona, that isn't involved with her, Katerina's mother , a promiscuous woman gave birth to many children without the benefit of a marriage license. And presided over those so carelessly... letting them go into the earth gladly, truth be told she forgot to feed the babies. Katerina had good fortune though, her mother's sister, that same relative, mentioned before, felt sorry for the child, didn't help, she was so adorable and somehow survived . When the two old, lonely ladies the owners of the property fell in love with the baby, they first saw, brought her into their house and raised Katerina. As both a servant and daughter, hence the Prince smitten by the girl , wants her (as he feels, he has every right to Katerina), at first she resists but after another visit succumbs. The cycle begins again an illegitimate son born and dies, and Katerina forced out. Men always chase the beautiful woman and she loses servant jobs, the ladies of the house quite insist . In the end the only option, becoming a prostitute, but miracles occur, while Maslova is on trial for a crime she didn't commit the surprised Prince is a member of the jury. Thus they meet again, ten years later, Dimitri feels remorseful, he will try to help the woman, she doesn't recognize him at first. Guilt consumes him, he is responsible for the girl's situation, her descent to the bottom, the depravity, coarseness, both smoking, and drinking, just imagine , the ultimate degradation still, and the very scandalous behavior as he continues...
living in a not respectable residence obviously too all ...
and she an innocent woman until he spoiled her...
The ruin of Katerina's whole life, all falls on his lap. Dimitri has to make amends, nothing else will relief his ceaseless pain. Even going to Siberia... to aid and try to alleviate the inhuman conditions of the suffering prisoners and particularly Katerina, the woman be loves, he says. Nevertheless the convicts die and die...
His family , start to think this strange behavior may be a sign of a mental breakdown, he is even trying to give the peasants his land in a convoluted way. Tolstoy, more interested in his philosophy (Georgism, from American writer Henry George) than deep characterization, in this novel , pontificates his belief that everyone is equal, the lowest to the highest. Criminals should be forgiven no matter what they did...Not a popular notion today. This novel because of its risque material, sold more books in his lifetime than his two great classics, War and Peace and Anna Karenina...that has changed ...