An Accidental Family

Set in the 1870s, a time of social disorder in Russia, An Accidental Family ( 1875) is the story of Arkady Dolgoruky, an awkward, illegitimate 20-year-old in search of his family. He tries to escape the bruising experience of his 'accidental' birth and become legitimately a member of a family, even though that family is equally 'accidental' and indeed mirrors the growing illegitimacy of Russian society as a whole.