The Negro of Peter the Great

With the Negros existence in Paris his success in French society and his love affair with a European countess the novel opens with a portrait of the morals and manners of French society in the first quarter of the 18th century. Yet summoned both by Peter and by his own vague sense of duty Ibrahim returns to Russia. The ensuing chapters which are rich in historical detail and antiquarianism portray the many social classes in Russian society including a ball at the Winter Palace and a boyars banquet at the home of boyar Gavrila Rzhevsky. The Tsar who wants to marry Ibrahim to Natalia the daughter of Gavrila arrives and interrupts the latter.