Чёртова кукла

Yurul, a handsome aristocrat in St Petersburg, puts pleasure first. He uses his charm in love without deep feeling. He bends his moral rules to suit his own needs. As revolution draws near, unease spreads through the city's wealthy circles. Yet he may be less free than he thinks. The story raises the prospect that someone else controls him.

This novel blends social fiction with the supernatural. Зинаида Гиппиус (1869–1945) was a poet and a leading thinker in Russian Symbolism. She was married to Dmitry Merezhkovsky. She left Russia during the Civil War. Her work then went unpublished there for many years.