Sofichka by Fazil Iskander. Short summary

5 seconds

The kind and sincere beauty Sofička married a boy she loved and loved. But one day Rauf returned from the woods covered in blood — the girl’s brother Nuri had thrown an axe at him.

1 minute

The main character in the story is a kind, quiet and hardworking Abkhazian girl, Sofichka. Young Sofichka married her beloved and loving boyfriend Rauf, but their happiness was short-lived. Nuri, Sophichka’s brother, killed her husband in the heat of a quarrel. The kind Sophichka persuaded her husband’s relatives not to take revenge on her brother. Nuri was expelled from Chegem.

The Great Patriotic War began. Sofichka helps those around her as much as she can: she tries to save her husband’s brother Shamil, helps her father-in-law and mother-in-law to bring up their orphaned grandchildren.

After the war, Rouf’s old parents and grandchildren were exiled to Siberia. Sofichka left with them to care for and support them. After Stalin’s death, the heroine returned to her native village.

Thirty years passed. Sofichka was finally able to forgive her brother for killing her husband when he fell on his knees in front of her. But the very next morning the heroine realized that Nuri’s repentance was insincere. Sofichka became very ill, and a month later she died. She was fifty years old.