A House of Gentlefolk
Translated by Constance Garnett
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This novel offers a profound exploration of love, duty, and the haunting power of the past, rendered with Turgenev's characteristic psychological depth and lyrical evocation of the Russian countryside.
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Book Summary
A House of Gentlefolk follows the return of Fedor Lavretsky to his Russian estate after a failed marriage, where he falls in love with the devout Lisa Kalitin. Their hopes for happiness are shattered when his supposedly dead wife reappears, forcing both to confront duty, morality, and the weight of the past.
Set in 1842, the novel opens with the Kalitin household awaiting news of Lavretsky's return. Lavretsky, estranged from his scandalous wife Varvara Pavlovna, seeks solace in the countryside and becomes drawn to the pious Lisa Kalitin. Their mutual love blossoms, but Varvara Pavlovna unexpectedly returns, having faked her death. Lavretsky is bound by duty to reconcile with her, while Lisa, tormented by guilt and religious conviction, rejects Panshin's proposal and decides to enter a convent. The novel traces Lavretsky's family history, including his father's Anglomania and his own failed marriage, and contrasts the genuine artistry of the German musician Lemm with the superficial charm of Panshin. In the epilogue, eight years later, Lavretsky visits the Kalitin home, now filled with a new generation, and catches a glimpse of Lisa in her convent, underscoring the enduring pain of lost love and the passage of time.
Reading guide
Go deeper in A House of Gentlefolk
Character guides, themes, chapter companions — plus Character Web, narrative arc, and theme heatmap teasers that unlock fully beside the text in BetterReads.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
Lisa Mihalovna
A devout, gentle young woman whose quiet faith and moral seriousness make her the still center of every romantic hope and spiritual conflict in the novel.
Fedor Ivanitch Lavretsky
A weary nobleman returning from abroad to his estates, carrying a failed marriage and a cold, searching gaze that unsettles the drawing rooms he enters.
Varvara Pavlovna Lavretsky
Lavretsky's beautiful, calculating wife, whose graceful humility conceals a cold intelligence and whose reappearance threatens to undo any hope of happiness.
Vladimir Nikolaitch Panshin
A polished young official and favorite of Petersburg society, charming everyone effortlessly while his sharp brown eye never stops calculating advantage.
Marya Dmitrievna Kalitin
Lisa's widowed mother, a provincial lady of restless vanity and maternal anxiety, forever arranging marriages and fretting over the governess she has just hired.
Marfa Timofyevna Pestov
Marya Dmitrievna's sharp-tongued aunt, who collects stray creatures and speaks uncomfortable truths with a bluntness that masks real tenderness.
Love and Marriage
The novel explores the complexities of love and marriage through the relationships of Lavretsky and Varvara Pavlovna, Lisa and Panshin, and the tragic marriage of Ivan Petrovitch, highlighting themes of betrayal, duty, and the search for genuine affection.
Duty and Morality
Characters like Lisa and Lavretsky grapple with moral obligations, religious piety, and the need for expiation, as seen in Lisa's decision to enter a convent and Lavretsky's reflection on his responsibilities after personal failure.
Social Class and Identity
The narrative examines class distinctions and social mobility through characters like Agafya, who rises from peasantry to housekeeper, and the Lavretsky family's conflicts over marriage and inheritance, reflecting Russian society's rigid hierarchies.
The Past and Memory
The past haunts the present, as Lavretsky revisits his childhood, his father's Anglomania, and his failed marriage, while the novel uses flashbacks and nostalgic descriptions to show how history shapes personal destiny.
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