Sofja Tolstaja

Sofja Andreyevna Tolstaya (1844–1919) was a Russian writer. She married the writer Leo Tolstoy at the age of 18 and later worked as his assistant and publisher. For many years, she transcribed his often difficult-to-read, heavily corrected manuscripts into fair copies. The couple had thirteen children and spent much of their married life at the Yasnaya Polyana estate. Tolstaya kept a diary throughout her life and wrote, among other works, the novels *A Question of Guilt* (1893), a response to Tolstoy’s *The Kreutzer Sonata*, and *Song Without Words* (1897–1900).