Poor Folk (Readings Classics)

Poor Folk, Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s remarkable debut, is a poignant epistolary novel that explores the quiet despair and fragile dignity of the impoverished in 19th-century St. Petersburg. Through the tender exchange of letters between Makar Devushkin, a humble government copy clerk, and Varvara Dobroselova, a young seamstress, Dostoyevsky paints a deeply human portrait of loneliness, love, and sacrifice. Their correspondence reveals not only the emotional solace they find in each other, but also the crushing weight of poverty that shapes their choices and dreams. With subtle irony and profound empathy, Poor Folk offers an intimate glimpse into the inner lives of the forgotten and the powerless. As much a social critique as it is a study of emotional resilience, the novella marks the emergence of Dostoyevsky’s unique literary voice which would later redefine the landscape of Russian fiction.