Krupskaya treated Inessa almost like a younger sister, and after her death spoke of her with a curious mixture of reticence and affection. Nina Gourfinkel, who has written a popular but solidly documented biographical sketch of Lenin, based in part on interviews with one-time members of his entourage in exile, suggests that Inessa was the great love of his life. There was certainly a romantic — and intensely Russian — element in their friendship; Inessa, besides helping Lenin at times with his professional correspondence, lightened his rare off-duty hours by playing Chopin and Beethoven on the
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Lenins wife
