When George's parents are away for the day, he's tempted to do something about his tyrannical grandmother. "Something" means going round the house collecting all kinds of horrible ingredients that will make up a magic potion to make her disappear. But instead of disappearing, she gets bigger.

Georgeas grouchy grandma needs a taste of her own medicine, and George knows just the right ingredients to put into it

When George's parents are away for the day, he's tempted to do something about his tyrannical grandmother. "Something" means going round the house collecting all kinds of horrible ingredients that will make up a magic potion to make her disappear. But instead of disappearing, she gets bigger.

Georgeas grouchy grandma needs a taste of her own medicine, and George knows just the right ingredients to put into it

This novel brought its 24-year-old author critical and public acclaim nearly overnight. Written in the form of letters, it recounts a blossoming romance amid St. Petersburg's slums between a middle-aged writer and a much younger seamstress. Compact and easy to read, it represents an excellent introduction to Dostoyevsky's work.

This novel brought its 24-year-old author critical and public acclaim nearly overnight. Written in the form of letters, it recounts a blossoming romance amid St. Petersburg's slums between a middle-aged writer and a much younger seamstress. Compact and easy to read, it represents an excellent introduction to Dostoyevsky's work.

Poor Folk is the first novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, written over the span of nine months between 1844 and 1845. Inspired by the works of Gogol, Pushkin, and Karamzin, as well as English and French authors, Poor Folk is written in the form of letters between the two main characters, Makar Devushkin and Varvara Dobroselova, who are poor second cousins. The novel showcases the life of poor people, their relationship with rich people, and poverty in general, all common themes of literary naturalism. A deep but odd friendship develops between them until Dobroselova loses her interest in literature, and later in communicating with Devushkin after a rich widower Mr. Bykov proposes to her. While Vissarion Belinsky dubbed the novel Russia's first "social novel" and Alexander Herzen called it a major socialist work, other critics detected parody and satire.