In particular, he found the entreaties of his wife, Sofya, difficult, as she suspected (correctly) that he was plotting with his closest friend, Chertkov, to betray the family by giving away the copyright to his works.

A major subplot of the novel involves Tolstoy's young secretary, Valentin Bulgakov, who comes to work with his hero in 1910 and bears witness to the controversies and difficulties surrounding him.

This novel mines the contradictions between Tolstoy's religious and political convictions, and those of his followers, and the luxurious life he found himself living – having been born into the Russian aristocracy and inherited a major estate.

[2] On the front page of The New York Times Book Review, Miranda Seymour wrote: “The Last Station one of those rare works of fiction that manages to demonstrate both scrupulous historical research and true originality of voice and perception.

The Sunday Times of London said: “Jay Parini has written a stylish, beautifully paced and utterly beguiling novel.” The novel was made into an Academy Award-nominated film (also The Last Station) that was released in 2009, directed by Michael Hoffman and starring Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, Paul Giamatti, and James McAvoy.