Resurrection

Leo Tolstoy · 1828–1910 · Russia

Originally Voskreseniye (Russian)

Why it matters

A juror recognizes the prostitute on trial as a woman he seduced and abandoned years before, and follows her toward Siberia seeking atonement. Tolstoy's final novel, blunt and furious, indicts church, court, and landholding alike.

At a glance

Long and plainly told, but its courtroom and prison chapters carry sustained polemical argument.