BooksBarbecue
Back The Book of Anna Save as PDF
Chapters (53)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. An Explanation of What This Book Is About
  4. Part One: Anna’s Sergei and Anya’s City: St. Petersburg, Saturday, January 8, 1905
  5. 1. On the Heels of Clementine, the Anarchist
  6. 2. Claudia and Sergei
  7. 3. Clementine Defends Herself
  8. 4. To the Concert
  9. 5. The Tsar’s Letter
  10. 6. In the Theater
  11. 7. What Giorgi, the Karenins’ Coachman, Did
  12. 8. Intermission at the Concert
  13. 9. Near the Port
  14. 10. More Specifics about Sergei
  15. 11. Kapitonich, Hall Porter at the Karenin Palace
  16. 12. Claudia and Sergei at Table
  17. 13. Aleksandra and Volodin Go to the Haven
  18. 14. Our Moment of Greatness
  19. 15. With Father Gapon
  20. 16. Clementine, in Pursuit of the Night
  21. 17. In the Karenin Palace Kitchen
  22. 18. We’ll Give Our Lives!
  23. 19. The Karenins Take Dinner
  24. Part Two: Bloody Sunday: Sunday, January 9, 1905
  25. 20. Anya Karenina without Aleksandra
  26. 21. The Karenins’ Reply to the Tsar
  27. 22. Piotr
  28. 23. The Three Women
  29. 24. Claudia’s Impatience
  30. 25. Unexpected Guests at the Karenin Palace
  31. 26. What on Earth Was the Tsar Thinking?
  32. 27. Back in the Karenin Palace Kitchen
  33. 28. The Reverend’s Beard
  34. Part Three: Karenina’s Portrait: Three months later
  35. 29. Karenina’s Portrait
  36. 30. About Clementine
  37. 31. The Critics Examine the Portrait
  38. 32. Vladimir
  39. 33. The Reason for the Proposed Purchase
  40. 34. The Portrait Departs
  41. 35. Between the Dream and the Battleship Potemkin
  42. 36. Claudia’s Regrets
  43. 37. In Claudia’s Hands
  44. Part Four: The Book of Anna: No date or place
  45. 38. An Opium-Infused Fairy Tale: The Book of Anna by Anna Karenina
  46. Part Five: Finale: St. Petersburg, June 1905
  47. 39. After Reading
  48. 40. The Plot
  49. 41. The Boxes
  50. 42. Anya Karenina
  51. 43. The Wind
  52. Funder Acknowledgments
  53. The Publisher’s Circle of Coffee House Press

All Claudia’s arguments eventually disarm Sergei, and in his exhaustion, he gives in. Claudia decides that she’ll send a letter in the morning thanking the tsar for the invitation to include the piece in the imperial collection and requesting that an expert appraise it to be sure it has sufficient artistic merit for the honor of being exhibited in such a museum. If it’s not a masterpiece, the canvas doesn’t deserve to become part of the imperial collection.

Part Two: Bloody Sunday: Sunday, January 9, 1905

PART TWO

BLOODY SUNDAY

Image

Sunday, January 9, 1905

20. Anya Karenina without Aleksandra

20. Anya Karenina without Aleksandra

At Anya’s house, Sunday gets off to a chaotic start. Aleksandra’s absence disrupts life at the Karenin Palace. Anya’s room becomes the scene of a great quest: no one can find the bow for her skirt, the right color hat, or the petticoat that matches, or the collar, the blouse, the dress. They change Anya’s outfit four times, without being able to complete one of them. The clock is ticking, servants come and go, yet Anya remains undressed. In the kitchen, breakfast still isn’t ready. It’s Sunday, but no one can go out to pray. Kapitonich is the most out of sorts; he doesn’t know when he should go and wait by the door, and his knees hurt from standing so long without taking a rest in his room.

Aleksandra appears to be extremely disorganized, but chaos is her element, and in it, she’s like a fish in water, finding things effortlessly while anyone else drowns in her turbulent wake. Those who go looking will find no trace of things: a pair of shoes hides a shawl, a corset hides a comb, a skirt hides a pair of knickers, and a belt hides a bottle of ink for writing calling cards. And no one has even attempted to do Anya’s hair yet; that’s Aleksandra’s forte.

21. The Karenins’ Reply to the Tsar

21. The Karenins’ Reply to the Tsar

That Sunday, January 9, Claudia answers the tsar early, immediately after breakfast, in a style that is anything but bold and direct. Her letter says that nothing would make them happier than to see the portrait of Anna Karenina in the imperial collection, “an inconceivable privilege.” They feel that, out of duty, they must ask an expert’s opinion of the portrait, since they themselves are incapable of judging whether it has any artistic value, and the Hermitage “is without a doubt the best collection of paintings in the world” (it was a good collection, but this phrase was pure flattery). The canvas is at the disposal of anyone capable of judging whether it deserves this honor; let them come and see it.