Nest of the Gentry, Virgin Soil

by Ivan Turgenev, Constance Garnett (Translator), Andrew Kahn (Introduction)

568 pages, Hardcover

Published April 14, 2026

About the author

Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (Cyrillic: Иван Сергеевич Тургенев) was a novelist, poet, and dramatist, and now ranks as one of the towering figures of Russian literature. His major works include the short-story collection A Sportsman’s Sketches (1852) and the novels Rudin (1856), Home of the Gentry (1859), On the Eve (1860), and Fathers and Sons (1862).

These works offer realistic, affectionate portrayals of the Russian peasantry and penetrating studies of the Russian intelligentsia who were attempting to move the country into a new age. His masterpiece, Fathers and Sons, is considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century.

Turgenev was a contemporary with Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy. While these wrote about church and religion, Turgenev was more concerned with the movement toward social reform in Russia.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book is just okay. A sort of pastoral romance I've mostly forgotten. The second is far better. The questions it asks about political conflict are still relevant (and depressing) today. There's even one prescient character who predicts the gentry will be replaced by the merchant class and the common man will still suffer.

[Stephanie Miceli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Russian literature at its finest. Turgenev is such a powerful writer.

[Matilda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed Nest of the Gentry but I've struggled with Virgin Soil so I may return to it in the future.