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OTTAWA, October 6, 2010  —  Hidden for a century, previously unpublished memoir provides insight into the life of Leo Tolstoy.

The University of Ottawa Press (UOP) celebrated today the publication of the world’s first edition of Sofia Tolstaya’s memoirs, titled My Life. The 1200 page volume, which reveals important details about Tolstoy that have remained buried for nearly a century, is an invaluable historical resource.

Nearly 150 years after the publication of War and Peace, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy continues to be regarded as one of the most accomplished writers of all time. But until now, little attention has been paid to the person closest to him: his wife, Sofia Andreevna Tolstaya.

My Life is filled with facts and commentaries concerning Tolstoy’s life and work which Sofia is uniquely placed to offer. She provides a new and better understanding of Tolstoy’s qualities as a husband and father, and as a writer.

The volume also highlights Tolstaya's accomplishments as an author in her own right, as well as her work as an artist, musician, photographer, and businesswoman, rare in the male-dominated world of the time. Guests in her home ranged from peasants to princes, from anarchists to artists, from composers to philosophers. Her descriptions of these personalities read as a chronicle of her times, painting a unique portrait of late 19th-century and early 20th-century Russia.

The book is an intimate and honest portrait of one of the greatest literary minds of all time and the most important primary document about Tolstoy to be published in decades.

My Life was translated from its original Russian by John Woodsworth and Arkadi Klioutchanski. The volume was edited by Andrew Donskov, director of the University of Ottawa’s Slavic Research Group and a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.

UOP is the publishing house of the University of Ottawa. Founded in 1936, it is Canada's oldest French-language university press and the only fully bilingual university press in North America. UOP publishes in both official languages and is committed to bilingualism and multiculturalism. As a university press, our publishing program reflects and promotes critical thinking, first-class research, intellectual integrity, ethical judgment, social responsibility and innovation.