history. His aunt Natalya Petrovna Alferyeva in 1824 as a teenager became the wife to 50-year-old landowner Strakhov, who proved to be a jealous and tyrannical husband. Boyarynya Plodomasova herself had a prototype in a landowner woman Leskov related of in his article called "The Nobility Surfeit". She was Princess Nastassya Massalskaya, who received excellent education in Paris and was loved and respected for her intelligence, noble and independent character. "She had only 500 [serfs] which didn't make her a rich woman, but her house, very well kept, was always open to guests, invited or not. People almost worshipped her and were coming to visit her not for "feasting" but just to "have a bow", express their respect. Neighbours also borrowed books from her vast library which "kept the community very well read," Leskov wrote. References External links Старые годы в селе Плодомасове. The original Russian text. Novels by Nikolai Leskov 1869 Russian novels Works originally published in The Russian Messenger