The young, reclusive scholar Vasily Ordynov becomes infatuated with Katerina, who is married to the much older Ilya Murin, a man of forbidding manners and appearance. Having managed to secure a lodging at their home, Ordynov becomes aware of his landlord's murky past and his reputed gift of clairvoyance, which has created a stir in the neighbourhood. As he develops a passion for his landlady, which Katerina reciprocates, the scene is set for a violent confrontation and a cataclysmic denouement.

The Landlady, a novella written in 1847, immediately after The Double, is accompanied in this volume by the rest of Dostoevsky's shorter fiction, including famous stories such as ?Mr Prokharchin', ?White Nights', ?The Dream of a Ridiculous Man' and ?A Gentle Creature' - all presented in sparkling new translations by Roger Cockrell.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-81) was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. His most famous work includes Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov. He is considered to be one of Europe's major novelists.