Childhood is the first published novel by Leo Tolstoy, released under the initials L. N. in the November 1852 issue of the popular Russian literary journal The Contemporary. It is the first in a series of three novels, followed by Boyhood and Youth. Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828, the scion of aristocrats. His mother died before he was two years old, and his father passed away in 1837. After two other guardians died, Tolstoy lived with an aunt in Kazan, Russia. Childhood, Boyhood, Youth by Leo Tolstoy: Themes of Shyness and Self-Improvement. Leo Tolstoy began Childhood, Boyhood, Youth - a trilogy - in his early twenties. It is a vibrant account of a young person's emerging awareness of the world, himself, and the people around him, as described through the eyes of Nikolenka.