Of 'Astapovo'

Under my bedside table is a fat paperback entitled 'The Assassin's Cloak' - a daily read of diaries of all sorts of people over the centuries, from Marcus Aurelius to Adrian Mole (the only fictional entrant, honestly).

I gave my Dad the book,  probably 15 years ago. He loved it and read it nightly for two years, and then lent it to me. I did the same and returned it to him.

When Dad died and we cleared the house, it was among the books under his bedside table - along with a selection of others, some of which I had given him...

Edward Thomas' poetry (which I had bought here in Aber on a visit) was one of them, as was A.S Byatt's "Possession", which I had lent him and I swear finished him off!

Last night, tired and in between reads, I dipped into the diaries before sleep, and was amused to find this from July 1854

The strange genius who was Tolstoy wrote "War and Peace" 15 years after this and was to live till 1910.

Browsing BBC Sounds this afternoon, for a drama to listen to while being domestic, I chanced upon "The Jester of Astapovo" by Rose Tremain, whose writing I like. This turned out to be a fictionalised account of Tolstoy's last days, in a tiny village in Russia - fleeing his wife of 48 years, Tolstoy was taken ill and died in the station master's cottage.

And yes, his diary was mentioned, though only briefly...