Siberochka Novel
This is the tale of Siberochka, a gentle and brave girl whose young life is filled with extraordinary tests and adventures. From escaping a wolf attack in the forest of Siberia when she was just a baby, to surviving a vicious bear attack and ruthless criminals, to becoming a circus performer in St. Petersburg with her good friend Andrei, Siberochka's hardships are met with a valiant determination to survive and triumph.
The story of Siberochka, from popular Russian author Lidia Charskaya (1875-1937), has been translated and updated. She wrote primarily for teenage girls and became phenomenally successful in the early 20th century, though her work was later banned by the Soviet regime.
Charskaya was educated at the Pavlovsk Institute for Noble Girls and later became an actress at the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Her writing career began when she started publishing stories about life in girls' boarding schools, drawing from her own experiences. Her first major success came with the novel "Princess Dzhavakha" (1903).
Her books typically featured young heroines facing various trials and tribulations, often orphans or students at boarding schools. Some of her most famous works include "The Life of Institute Girls" and "Burden" Her writing style was emotional and melodramatic, which particularly appealed to young readers but drew criticism from some literary critics.
After the 1917 Revolution, Charskaya's works were banned by the Soviet authorities. They considered her books too bourgeois and deemed them harmful to Soviet youth due to their focus on privileged classes and pre-revolutionary values. She was essentially forced to stop writing and lived in poverty during her final years.
While banned for decades in the Soviet Union, her books experienced a revival in Russia during the 1990s when they were republished and once again found an audience.