Presented in a new translation by Roger Cockrell The Village of Stepanchikovo and Its
Inhabitants was originally conceived as a play and first published in 1859 shortly after the
author's release from forced military service. Gogolian in style and tone and waspish in its
description of the villainous Opiskin it is a sustained exercise in caricatural cruelty and a
comedic tour de force. The young Sergei is summoned from St Petersburg by his uncle the
retired colonel Yegor Rostanev to the remote country estate of Stepanchikovo. Rostanev's
household populated by a medley of remarkable characters is dominated by the figure of Foma
Opiskin a devious manipulative hanger-on who has everyone in thrall and plots to marry the
colonel to the woman of his choice Tatyana Ivanova. When Opiskin finds that his plans are
being thwarted a confrontation with Rostanev ensues and all hell is let loose.
