In Mzinsk, a remote Russian town, adultery is Katerina's relief from boredom. Before long she has developed a passion for he lover, Sergei, that will lead to more than one murder. The title of Nikolai Leskov's novella, published in Russian in 1865, was inspired by Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, but a quite different fate is store for Katerina. - Summary by Phil Benson