The Last Station (novel)

The Last Station is a 1990 biographical novel by American author Jay Parini. It chronicles the final year in the life of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, focusing particularly on the conflict between his wife, Sofya Andreyevna, and his disciple, Vladimir Chertkov, over the rights to Tolstoy's works and his philosophical legacy.

The novel blends historical fact with fictionalized accounts of the relationships surrounding Tolstoy. It explores themes of love, faith, materialism, and the search for meaning in life. The narrative is primarily presented through the perspectives of several key characters, including Sofya Andreyevna, Chertkov, and Valentin Bulgakov, Tolstoy's newly appointed secretary. These multiple perspectives offer differing and often conflicting interpretations of Tolstoy's philosophies and actions.

The central conflict revolves around Tolstoy's desire to renounce his copyrights and wealth, distributing them to the Russian people, a plan vehemently opposed by his wife, who feared financial ruin for her family. Chertkov, a strict Tolstoyan, seeks to ensure that Tolstoy's radical ideas are properly disseminated after his death, further exacerbating the tensions within the Tolstoy household. Bulgakov, the naive and idealistic secretary, is caught in the middle, struggling to reconcile his admiration for Tolstoy with the increasingly bitter personal drama he witnesses.

The Last Station provides a portrait of a complex and contradictory figure in his twilight years, grappling with the implications of his own teachings and the challenges of living a life aligned with his ideals. The novel was adapted into a 2009 film of the same name, starring Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as Sofya Andreyevna.