Classics Challenge - City Folk and Country Folk

You might not hear 19th Century Russian Novel and think fun and easy read but City Folk and Country Folk by Sofia Khvoshchinskaya was (so keep that in mind if you are participating in the Challenge next year and need a translation selection!). I found it delightful.

It's the story of a country landowner Nastaysa, her daughter Olenka and the summer some city people come and make an impact, most notable their religious spinster of a cousin Anna and the enlightened Erast Sergeyevich, who has come to rest in the country. I loved our two main female characters but all of her characters really just come to life. 

I've heard this novel compared to Jane Austen's works and while it would be well nigh impossible for an Austen work to be ousted as a favorite in my opinion, I do see why people make the comparison. The social commentary and clever wit as well as very memorable people are all reminiscent of Austen's works. I do wish I had a better understanding of the social climate of this book, mainly the releasing of the serfs and the relationships between them and the landowners, because I know that some of the commentary is lost on me without that. I also wish that I had a hard copy as my hoopla version made reading the footnotes difficult and they were prolific and interesting.  My only complaint is that I wish it were longer. This will probably be a book I go back to in the future. 

City Folk and Country Folk is my 19th Century Back to the Classics Challenge selection.