Foma Gordeyev

When young Foma Gordeyev inherits his father’s vast shipping empire on the Volga, he seems destined for a life of power and pleasure. But beneath the surface of grand banquets and riverboat deals, a restless soul fights for air. Raised in the shadow of the shrewd, iron-fisted Ignat Gordeyev, Foma finds himself torn between the cynical advice of his calculating godfather Yakov Mayakin and the defiant ideals of his revolutionary friend Yezhov. As he drifts through affairs, excesses, and a deepening disgust with the corruption of his class, Foma’s rebellion grows ever more volatile—until it erupts in a shattering public confrontation that will seal his fate. This modern retelling preserves all the fierce energy of Gorky’s original while rendering it in fresh, vivid English. Part of Timeless Classics.