First Love

Story Summary

A timeless tale of youth, love, and loss, masterfully rendered by Ivan Turgenev. Vladimir Petrovich and his friends are gathered at a party recounting stories of their first loves. Vladimir tells a vivid tale of unrequited adolescent passion: When he was sixteen, he met the beautiful twenty-one-year-old Zinaida Alexandrovna Zasyekina and fell head over heels. Unfortunately for Vladimir, several other—more eligible—suitors also hoped to win the affections of the beautiful Zinaida. An assured classic, Turgenev's poignant novella follows young Vladimir through the peaks of ecstatic ardor and the valleys of bitter disappointment, concluding in inevitable tragedy.