Childhood

Childhood (pre-reform Russian: ???????; post-reform Rus­sian: ???????, tr. Détstvo) is the first published novel 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 series of three novels, followed by Boyhood and Youth.

Published when Tolstoy was just twenty-three years old, the book was an immediate suc­cess. It earned Tolstoy notice from other Russian novelists including Ivan Turgenev, who heralded the young Tols­toy as a major up-and-coming figure in Russian literature.Childhood explores the inner life of a young boy, Ni­kolenka. It is one of the books in Russian writing to explo­re an expressionistic style, mixing fact, fiction, and emo­tions to render the moods and reactions of the narrator.