Childhood

Childhood' is the first published work by Leo Tolstoy, released under the initials L. N. in the November 1852 issue of the popular Russian literary journal 'The Contemporary'. It is the first in a trilogy of novellass and is followed by 'Boyhood' and 'Youth'. Published when Tolstoy was just twenty-three years old, the book was an immediate success, earning praise from other Russian novelists including Ivan Turgenev, who heralded the young Tolstoy as a major up-and-coming figure in Russian literature. 'Childhood' is an exploration of the inner life of a young boy, Ni-kolenka, and one of the books in Russian writing to explore an expressionistic style, mixing fact, fiction and emotions to present the moods and reactions of the narrator.