Volnaya gramota

I'm a fan of period dramas, but generally, I stay away from shows/movies that are not in English or Spanish. However, the synopsis piqued my interest & I'm glad I gave it a chance! The interwoven plots all fit nicely & it was so captivating that relying on subtitles did not divert my interest. I think it would definitely be worth binge-watching.

From the title "Life of a Mistress", I thought this was a seedy drama about a concubine or an "other woman", so I've been ignoring this for sometime while surfing shows to watch on Prime Video. So glad I finally took a chance on this as it turned out to be quite a gem.

After watching this, I think a more apt title would have been "The Serf Lady" or something like that.

This tells the story of beautiful Polina Lebedeva, born a serf in the estate of Prince Alexei Golovin but raised like his daughter. However, her freedom certificate he signed on his deathbed was stolen. So was his will that left all his estate to her.

The estate falls into the hands of a tyrannical neighbor Count Andrey Krechetskiy, who, along with his wife Anna, treat Polina as a serf. The drama shows the agonizing lives of serfs whose lives, including their marriages, are dictated by their masters.

Andrey's dashing brother Dmitriy, however, treats Polina as the lady she is. They fall in love, but it is illegal for noblemen to marry serfs. How the couple overcomes obstacles is riveting. I also love how the.drama shows the investigation process that culminates in the satisfying revelation at the courtroom.

This is set in the 1830's Russia. Serf IS Slave, slave is serf. In 1723 Czar Peter ended agricultural slavery / serfs that became share-croppers like America's poor whites and blacks became after America's Civil War. House serf slavery remained yet if mistreated serfs would run away without consequences except loss of job. No freedom certificates required by law, no mistreatment beatings allowed by law. In 1861 Czar Alexander freed all house serfs with regulated working conditions and wages.

This is a Major plot hole that keeps recurring yet moving the time period back over 100 years will not work due to Russia being a hegemony of war lords sometimes claiming monarchy, vast parts ruled by Poland, Ottoman empire, Cossacks, Baltic states, ...

One important thing about Polina. She was a virgin throughout the first series not sure what happened in the end. She was indeed the daughter of the original landowner. Kind of a sad drawn out story of a young lady who never gives up her love for life and love. I think Polinas' female actor deserves awards for this drama series. Like Mariko in Shogun, the female lead actor keeps everyone engaged everyone loves her even the evil baron entrusts her to his and his wife's son. It's kind of drawn out does she get the prince and lives happily ever after and all that she deserves comes true? I hope so lol.

Loved this series except for the atrocious English in the subtitles. Why isn't a native English speaker hired to correct the awful literal translations.