Given the title and the content, I'm very surprised that there is no mention of Dostoevsky's wife Anna [0]. She was hired as a stenographer on his novel The Gambler to help him to finish it on time, since if he failed to do so, the copyright of any future work of his for the next several years would be in jeopardy. It took a while to find a rhythm (Dostoevsky was hard to keep up with), but once they did, they managed to meet the deadline, and a relationship between them was born.

From her Memoirs:

  Anna describes how Dostoevsky began his marriage proposal by outlining the plot of an imaginary new novel, as if he needed her advice on female psychology. In the story an old painter makes a proposal to a young girl whose name is Anya. Dostoevsky asked if it was possible for a girl so young and different in personality to fall in love with the painter. Anna answered that it was quite possible. Then he told Anna: "Put yourself in her place for a moment. Imagine I am the painter, I confessed to you and asked you to be my wife. What would you answer?" Anna said: "I would answer that I love you and I will love you forever."