Father Sergius (written c. 1890–1898, published 1911) is one of Tolstoy’s most searching late fictions. A proud aristocrat becomes a monk and eventually a celebrated hermit, yet finds that the spiritual pride underlying his renunciation is its own form of corruption. The novella follows his desperate spiritual struggle — including a famous scene of sexual temptation — toward a resolution that embodies Tolstoy’s most radical religious convictions.
A masterpiece of psychological and spiritual fiction in a compact form, Father Sergius is freely available as an EPUB download in this public-domain edition.