The Cliff

The novel "The Cliff," first published in 1869, caused a terrible scandal in the Russian literary community: Turgenev openly accused the author of borrowing his motifs and even entire plotlines, while Goncharov retaliated by accusing Turgenev himself of plagiarizing "The... Cliff," which he was familiar with in manuscript form. However, now that these passions have long subsided, and the independence of both works has been repeatedly proven by literary scholars, nothing prevents readers from enjoying the turbulent and slightly ironic passions boiling on the pages of this immortal novel. The artist Boris Raisky, imagining himself as a kind of "ideological Don Juan," sees his highest goal as what he himself calls "awakening a woman for passion." However, the victims he has planned for this "awakening" seem in no hurry to fall at the feet of the seducer — a beautiful young widow is having an affair with another man, and the young ward of Boris's grandmother, the landlady Berezhkova, Marfinka, prefers quiet family happiness with a positive and wealthy young admirer. When Marfinka's older sister, the mysterious and reserved Vera, returns to the estate of Berezhkova, Malinovka, events take an entirely different turn — the unlucky seducer Raisky falls genuinely and seriously in love with her…