# Anna Semionovna — The Faraway Bride character guide > Anna Semionovna in The Faraway Bride by Stella Benson. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Anna, Anna Semionovna Malinina, poor Anna **First appearance:** 0002-the-faraway-bride ## Snapshot Old Sergei's wife of nineteen years, a tempestuous, contrary bird whose unkind words are the only weather her blind husband can still read. ## Who they are Anna keeps house, plans curd cakes and the killing of chicks, and sits on the porch in the dust she claims is not for watching the road. Her presence is tempestuous, her words hardly ever kind, yet Old Sergei feels safe near her as in a rough straw bed after groping in the dark. When she announces, in her usual unloving tone, that Seryozha is coming round the corner, the discrepancy between voice and words shakes the house. ## Relationships ### [Old Sergei](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/old_sergei) _family_ Anna Semionovna and Old Sergei share a close familial bond, likely as mother and son or close relatives, given their high interaction frequency. ### [Seryozha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/seryozha) _family_ Anna Semionovna and Seryozha have a strong family relationship, likely as mother and son or aunt and nephew. ### [Alexander Petrovitch Weber](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/alexander_petrovitch_weber) _social_ Alexander Petrovitch Weber and Anna Semionovna are acquaintances or social contacts, with moderate interaction. ### [Mrs. Butters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/mrs_butters) _friendship_ Anna Semionovna and Mrs. Butters are friends or companions, sharing a supportive bond. ### [Tatiana Ostapenko](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/tatiana_ostapenko) _family_ Anna Semionovna and Tatiana Ostapenko are likely mother and daughter or close female relatives. ### [Wilfred Chew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/wilfred_chew) _social_ Anna Semionovna and Wilfred Chew are acquaintances or social contacts, with moderate interaction. ### [Old Sergei](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/old_sergei) _family_ Anna Semionovna and Old Sergei share a close familial bond, likely as mother and son or close relatives, given their high interaction frequency. ### [Seryozha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/seryozha) _family_ Anna Semionovna and Seryozha have a strong family relationship, likely as mother and son or aunt and nephew. ### [Alexander Petrovitch Weber](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/alexander_petrovitch_weber) _social_ Alexander Petrovitch Weber and Anna Semionovna are acquaintances or social contacts, with moderate interaction. ### [Old Sergei](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/old_sergei) _family_ Anna Semionovna and Old Sergei share a close familial bond, likely as mother and son or close relatives, given their high interaction frequency. ### [Mrs. Butters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/mrs_butters) _friendship_ Anna Semionovna and Mrs. Butters are friends or companions, sharing a supportive bond. ### [Tatiana Ostapenko](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/tatiana_ostapenko) _family_ Anna Semionovna and Tatiana Ostapenko are likely mother and daughter or close female relatives. ## In the story ### [The Faraway Bride](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/the-faraway-bride) Left behind in despair after Seryozha's departure, wanders and sews on the porch watching for his return. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/i) Mentioned as the wife who makes Old Sergei's clothes, cuts his hair, and adapts his shoes; also appears in Seryozha's imagination of home. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/iii) Anna is distracted and irritated by her husband's talk, recalls a possible social misstep with Mrs. Butters over the kid goat, and physically confronts Seryozha when he refuses to feed the animal. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/v) Conflicted and protective; initially opposes the journey, fears for Seryozha, but eventually consents, moved by his hope. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/ix) Receives Seryozha's marriage letter and Alexander's suicide letter; grapples with grief, guilt, and denial; accuses Old Sergei of faking blindness. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/xiv) Struggles with despair and resentment, sews on the porch watching for Seryozha, and calls Tatiana 'Death.' ### [Appendix Tobit 2](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/appendix) Tobit's wife, who supports him through his blindness and suffering. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/i) Tobit's wife, of his own kindred, mother of Tobias. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/ii) Takes up women's work, receives a kid goat as a gift, and defends herself against Tobit's accusations of theft. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/v) Weeps and protests against Tobias's departure, fearing for his safety. ### [Tobit's Anxiety and Tobias's Return](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/x) Anna bewails her son as dead, refuses comfort, and goes out daily to watch for him, fasting in her grief. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/xi) Anna watches for her son's return, runs to embrace him, and declares she is content to die having seen him. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/chapters/xiv) Anna, Tobit's wife, dies and is buried by Tobias alongside Tobit. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters/anna_semionovna - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_faraway_bride_se/characters