Alexey Sergeevich Pogorelov is a Ural writer of fiction of the late XIX − early XX century, depicting in his works the post−reform life of the factory population of the Urals. His work was devoted to the social issues that were relevant at that time: the distribution of factory land, the arbitrariness of the authorities and, as a result, the plight of the people. During the analysis, we use biographical information about Pogorelov: memoirs of relatives, obituaries and letters. This makes it possible to reveal the autobiographical basis of his works, to understand the nature of intense psychologism in the depiction of the central characters.