First Love tells the story of Vladimir Petrovich, a sixteen-year-old Russian student, who becomes captivated by the enchanting twenty-one-year-old Princess Zinaida. Vladimir finds himself irresistibly drawn into her circle of suitors, despite recognizing the folly of his infatuation. First Love vividly portrays the dizzying sensation of first infatuation and the tumultuous allure of unattainable love. Spring Torrents, also known as The Torrents of Spring, begins with the introspective musings of Dmitri Pavlovich Sanin, a fifty-two-year-old Russian nobleman. While listlessly searching through old letters, Sanin finds a tiny garnet cross that reignites memories of a radiant and romantic liaison he had in his early twenties in Frankfurt with Gemma, the daughter of an Italian confectioner. A poignant tale of first love, betrayal, redemption, and forgiveness, Spring Torrents ranks as one of Turgenev's finest literary accomplishments. This Warbler Classics edition includes a foreword by Joseph Conrad, a scholarly essay on reading Springs Torrents as a sociopolitical allegory of Russia's present and future, and a detailed biographical timeline.
