Netochka Nezvanova

Nov 27, 2025 8:46 AM

Author:Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Netochka Nezvanova

Netochka Nezvanova - a 'Nameless Nobody' - tells the story of a childhood dominated by her stepfather, Efimov, a failed musician who believes he is a neglected genius. The young girl is strangely drawn to this drunken ruin of a man, who exploits her and drives the family to poverty. But when she is rescued by an aristocratic family, the abuse against Netochka's delicate psyche continues in a more subtle way, condemning her to remain an outsider - a solitary spectator of a glittering society. Conceived as part of a novel on a grand scale, Netochka Nezvanova remained incomplete after Dostoyevsky was exiled to Siberia for 'revolutionary activities' in 1849. With its depiction of the suffering, loneliness, madness and sin that affect both rich and poor in St Petersburg, it contains the great themes that were to dominate his later novels.

Reviews

'A proper Pern novel...bodes well for future volumes'

—— SFX

Dragonsblood is a good yarn, fitting perfectly into the Pern series, yet something I don't think I would have thought up myself. Enjoy, as I did, another point of view about Pern

—— Anne McCaffrey (from her introduction to Dragonsblood)

A social satire that's biting and touching in equal measures

—— Cosmopolitan

I think what she's doing is great. We write about the real Hollywood'

—— JACKIE COLLINS

Bitchy and entertaining

—— Elle

Hysterical...Full of glamour, bitching and backstabbing - we love it

—— B

With this biting exposé of Hollywood marriages, Gigi Levangie is the worthy successor to Jackie Collins' throne

—— Heat

'Acidic and unforgiving...This hilariously accurate skewering of the mores - and the morons - of Hollywood left a deliciously vile taste in my mouth, and I loved it!

—— The New York Observer

'Irrestistably engaging'

—— Kirkus

'Witty and intelligent...just the thing for a lazy summer day'

—— Newsday

Genuine wit and charm

—— Image

Witty novel about life and love after divorce, Hollywood-style.

—— Daily Express

A bitchy and entertaining look at life in La-La Land

—— The Sun

A perfect poolside read

—— New Woman

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