When the down-at-heel Princess Zasyekin moves next door to the country estate of Vladimir Petrovich`s parents, he instantly and overwhelmingly falls in love with his new neighbour`s daughter, Zinaida. But the capricious young woman already has many admirers and, as she plays her suitors against each other, Vladimir`s unrequited youthful passion soon turns to torment and despair - although he remains unaware of his true rival for Zinaida`s affections. Set in the world of nineteenth-century Russia`s fading aristocracy, Turgenev`s story depicts a boy`s growth of knowledge and mastery over his own heart as he awakens to the complex nature of adult love. Isaiah Berlin`s moving translation retains the realism and depth of the Russian original. In his illuminating introduction, V. S. Pritchett examines Turgenev`s life and times, his autobiographical influences and his role as an innovator in Russian prose literature.