Biblio Library

After Olenka Plemyannikova’s father dies, she marries Ivan Kukin – the owner of the local theater. She soon takes over some of his paperwork-related roles and becomes more involved in the business. Unfortunately, Kukin dies in Moscow during one of his work-related travels. Olenka’s grief does not last too long and she soon gets married to a timber yard worker named Vasily Pustovalov. They live a happily and comfortable life together, until one day Pustovalov gets sick and dies a few days later.

What is the reason behind the death of Olenka’s spouses? Does it have anything to do with her or it is nothing more than bad luck? Will she get married once again after Vasily’s death? Or will she give up and live alone for the rest of her life?

You can find all the answers in Chekhov’s short story "The Darling".

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860 – 1904) was a Russian playwright and a master of the short novel. Besides literature, Chekhov was also practicing as a medical doctor for a large part of his life. Some of his most popular works are the plays "The Seagull", "Uncle Vanya" and "The Three Sisters", and the short stories "Ward No. 6" and "The Lady with the Dog".

B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories. He masterfully plays with a wide array of voices and accents and has since then produced over 500 audiobooks. Now in collaboration with SAGA Egmont, his engaging narration of these famous classics is available to readers everywhere.