A classic novella that powerfully evokes the ecstasy and pain of adolescent love. Framed as a recollection, it centers on 16-year-old Vladimir Petrovich and his summer infatuation with 21-year-old Princess Zinaida, the beautiful but capricious daughter of a poor aristocratic family. Vladimir becomes one of several suitors at Zinaida’s dacha, experiencing jealousy, devotion, and anguish as she playfully tests her admirers. The story’s shocking revelation comes when Vladimir discovers that Zinaida’s secret lover is none other than his own father, a middle-aged married man – an “impropriety” that scandalized some contemporary readers. Shortly thereafter, Zinaida dies in childbirth, leaving Vladimir with a shattered heart and a lasting lesson in the sorrows that often accompany one’s first love. First Love (Russian: «Первая любовь») remains one of Turgenev’s most beloved stories for its lyrical realism and the universality of its theme.This critical reader's edition presents a modern translation of the original manuscript, crafted to help the reader engage directly with Turgenev's works through clean, contemporary language and simplified sentence structures that clarify his complex ideas. Supplementary material enriches the text with autobiographical, historical, and linguistic context, including an afterword on Turgenev’s history, impact, and intellectual legacy highlighting the personal relationships that shaped his philosophy (focusing on Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Gogol), an index of the philosophical concepts he employs (emphasizing Realism and Nihilism) a comprehensive chronological list of his published writings, a brief biography, and a detailed timeline of his life.
