Poor Folk (1846) is the novel that made Dostoyevsky famous overnight. Written entirely as an exchange of letters between a low-ranking government clerk and the young woman he loves from across the courtyard, it is a tender and heartbreaking portrayal of poverty, pride, and the longing for dignity. The critic Belinsky declared it a work of genius on reading the manuscript.
As Dostoyevsky’s literary debut, it reveals both the themes and the deep empathy that would characterize all of his later masterworks. This free EPUB download makes his beginning freely accessible.