The Wife is a powerful story by Chekhov in which a landowner’s relief effort during a famine becomes entangled with the fractured relationship between him and his estranged wife — exposing the pride and self-deception that undermine even ostensibly good deeds. The other stories in this collection continue in the same vein of sharp, compassionate observation.
Chekhov’s ability to render the complications of ordinary life without judgment or sentimentality is on full display throughout. Download the free EPUB and spend an afternoon in the company of a true master of the short story.