Nétotchka Nezvanova

Netochka Nezvanova (Russian: Неточка Незванова) is Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s first but unfinished attempt at writing a novel. It translates to “nameless nobody.”. The first completed section of the book was published in the end of 1849.

The story is about the sorrowful life of a young girl living in extreme poverty in Saint Petersburg, who ends up an orphan and is adopted by a wealthy upper-class family. When she meets her new stepsister, Katya, she instantly becomes infatuated with her and the two soon become inseparable. However, one day Katya is forced to leave to Moscow with her parents, and for the next eight years Netochka lives with Katya’s older sister, who becomes her new mother figure. The story ends abruptly before the two girls reunite.