The Wrath of Dionysus ― A Novel

"This outstanding edition of The Wrath of Dionysus marks the first appearance of (Nagrodskaia’s) work in English. Let us hope her other novels quickly follow." —The Midwest Book Review

"The Wrath of Dionysus is translated well and has just enough notes to explain what is not available to the late-twentieth-century reader. Louise Reynolds should be commended for bringing us this work by Evdokia Nagrodskaya, a writer unknown to English-speaking audiences and even to contemporary Russians." —Lambda Book Report

"This novel has everything—love, romance, lust, travel, adventure. Yowee!" —Richard Stites

"... highly recommended for collections of Slavic literature as well as popular fiction." —Library Journal

"A woman trying to balance career and family. Confusion over sexual identity and gender roles. Unwed motherhood. The themes of The Wrath of Dionysus sound so contemporary that it may surprise readers to find them in a Russian novel published more than 80 years ago." —Publishers Weekly

Evdokia Nagrodskaia's novel The Wrath of Dionysus, with its theme of gender roles and sexual identity, became a sensational and controversial bestseller soon after it hit Russian bookstores in 1910. Long before postmodernism suggested that gender was a social construct rather than a biological absolute, Nagrodskaia's novel put this issue before middle-class Russian audiences hungry for popular fiction. A revealing historical glimpse at the pre-revolutionary Russian middle class, but also a good old-fashioned page-turner!

Evdokia Nagrodskaia (1866-1930) was a popular writer in fin-de-siecle Russia. Her novels include The Bronze Door, The River of Times, and The White Colonnade. Although French and German translations were published during her lifetime, this edition marks the first appearance of her work in English.
Louise McReynolds is Associate Professor of History at the University of Hawaii and author of The News under Russia’s Old Regime: The Development of a Mass-Circulation Press.