The House of the Dead is a novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, first published in 1862. It is a semi-autobiographical philosophical novel that is partly based on Dostoevsky's own experiences in a labour camp in the mid-1800s. He spent four years at the camp and a further six years in exile. The novel is narrated by Aleksandr Petrovich Goryanchikov, who has been sentenced to ten years of hard labour in Siberia for murdering his wife. Set apart from the other prisoners because of his higher social status (as Dostoevsky was), he finds life in the prison particularly difficult. During his time there he undergoes a spriritual awakening and develops sympathy for the prisoners - admiring their courage and talents. With many of the characters in the book based on people the author met whilst in prison himself, the novel's plot is largely composed of the narrator's transformation and newfound understanding of humanity.
