Tatiana Tolstoï
Tatyana Tolstaya (Татьяна Толстая) was born in Leningrad, U.S.S.R. As the great-grandniece of the Russian author Leo Tolstoy and the granddaughter of Alexei Tolstoy, Tolstaya comes from a distinguished literary family; but, according to Marta Mestrovic's interview in Publishers Weekly with the author, she hates ‘‘being discussed as a relative of someone.’’
Still, Tolstaya's background is undeniably one of culture and education. Her father was a physics professor who taught her two languages, and her maternal grandfather was a well-known translator.
“A depressão atormentava Ignatiev todas as noites. Pesada, desconcertante, de cabeça baixa, sentava-se na beira da cama e pegava-lhe na mão - uma enfermeira triste para um doente incurável. E passavam horas em silêncio, de mão dada.”
Tatiana Tolstoï