The Cause of it All

By Leo Tolstoy

Alcohol abuse is one of societies great levellers.It does not matter whether you are a prince or a peasant, when the demon drink controls you, you are the same.That is the message at the heart of Leo Tolstoy's 'The Cause of it All' - a warning against over-imbibing.It features Mihayla, the apparently respectable head of a rural Russian family.Then there is the vagrant who has been given shelter in their home for a night.Both get drunk, with Mihayla trying to bite his wife before the vagrant stops him.In the morning, the vagrant has gone - along with some of their belongings.Mihayla pursues him. But will this violent alcoholic choose revenge - or realise that they are both controlled by the same demon?It is a theme that has never - and probably will never - be outdated.The scourge of alcohol abuse features in Anne Bronte's 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall', Patricia Highsmith's 'Strangers on a Train' and 'Angela's Ashes' by Frank McCourt.-

• Language: English
• Publisher: SAGA Egmont
• Release date: Jan 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9788726892369

Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 in Tula, near Moscow. His parents, who both died when he was young, belonged to the Russian nobility, and to the end of his life Tolstoy remained conscious of his aristocratic status. His novels, ‘War and Peace’ and ‘Anna Karenina’ are literary classics and he is revered as one of the greatest writers of the nineteenth century. He died in 1910 at the age of 82.

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Leo Tolstoy

The Cause of it All

SAGA Egmont

The Cause of it All

Translated by Unknown

Original title: The Cause of it All

Original language: Russian

The characters and use of language in the work do not express the views of the publisher. The work is published as a historical document that describes its contemporary human perception.

Cover image: Shutterstock

Copyright © 1910, 2022 SAGA Egmont

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ISBN: 9788726892369

1st ebook edition

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This work is republished as a historical document. It contains contemporary use of language.

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Saga is a subsidiary of Egmont. Egmont is Denmark’s largest media company and fully owned by the Egmont Foundation, which donates almost 13,4 million euros annually to children in difficult circumstances.

CHARACTERS

akulína . An old woman of seventy, brisk, dignified, old-fashioned.

michael . Her son, thirty-five years old, passionate, self-satisfied, vain and strong.

martha. Her daughter-in-law, a grumbler, speaks much and rapidly.

paráshka . Ten years old, daughter of Martha and Michael.

tarás. The village elder's assistant, speaks slowly and gives himself airs.