6 h 43 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the person you love asks you to choose a life beyond everything your family expects?
At a country house near Moscow in the summer of 1853, Elena Stakhova longs to do real good. Andrei Bersenyev, a thoughtful scholar, loves her quietly. Pavel Shubin, a gifted sculptor, hides his feelings in jokes. Both offer affection, but Elena seeks a purpose neither seems able to give her.
Then Bersenyev brings Dmitri Insarov into the household. A Bulgarian student, he devotes his life to freeing his homeland from Ottoman rule. As Elena draws closer to him, love becomes a question of action and sacrifice. In On the Eve, Ivan Turgenev places her private choices against a restless Russia debating reform and the duties of the young.
What you’ll discover
- A restless young woman Enter Elena's thoughts through her diary and glimpse the childhood kindness behind her longing.
- Love with a purpose Watch Elena encounter a man whose commitment reaches far beyond his own happiness.
- Rivals beneath the wit Meet a loyal scholar and a joking sculptor whose affection takes very different forms.
- The pressure of convention Feel the strain between Elena's independent hopes and her father's expectations for her future.
- A quietly vivid world Linger over country conversations and landscapes that carry the mood without grand speeches.
Who will love it
For readers who love quiet, psychological novels, Russian country life and love stories with ideas inside them. It is also a good second step after Fathers and Sons.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Moscow summer in a country house
- Two suitors and a girl who waits
- Elena longs for active good
- Insarov arrives with a single purpose
- A small act shows a man's strength
- Love grows where it was not planned
- The price of choosing a cause
- What the novel is really about
- How Turgenev tells it and what it did
Who’s who
- Elena Nikolayevna StakhovaA serious, independent young woman who longs to do real good and to love someone who lives for a cause.
- Dmitri Nikanorovich InsarovA Bulgarian student in Moscow, reserved and determined, who has dedicated his life to freeing his homeland from Ottoman rule.
- Andrei Petrovich BersenyevA modest, thoughtful scholar and historian who loves Elena quietly and is loyal to his friends.
- Pavel Yakovlevich ShubinA gifted, witty sculptor who loves Elena, hides his feelings in jokes and struggles to focus his talent.
- Nikolai Artemyevich StakhovElena's father, a retired guards officer, pompous and distant, who expects his family to follow convention.
- KurnatovskyA capable, correct government official whom Elena's father favors as her husband and whom Elena finds cold.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 43 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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À la veille
by Ivan Tourgueniev· 1860
Elena meets a Bulgarian devoted to freeing his country, and love puts her family's expectations at stake.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A Moscow summer in a country house
The story opens in 1853 on the estate of the Stakhov family at Kuntsovo, outside Moscow. Two young friends lie under a lime tree on a hot day and talk lazily about life, art and love. One is Andrei Petrovich Bersenyev, a quiet young scholar who is studying history and hopes to become a professor. The other is Pavel Yakovlevich Shubin, a sculptor, quick, witty and a little vain.
Turgenev uses their talk to introduce the house they both visit. Nikolai Artemyevich Stakhov is a retired officer in the guards, a pompous man who likes to lay down the law at home. His wife, Anna Vasilievna, is soft, vague and easily upset. There is also Uvar Ivanovich, an old relative who sleeps through most of life and now and then says something unexpectedly wise.
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What is On the Eve about?
It tells of Elena Stakhova, a young Russian woman who wants a purposeful life and falls in love with Insarov, a Bulgarian committed to freeing his country. It is both a love story and a portrait of a restless society.
What does the title On the Eve mean?
It points to a time just before great change. The story is set in 1853, before the Crimean War, and was written in 1860, just before Russia freed its serfs.
Who is Insarov in On the Eve?
Insarov is a Bulgarian student in Moscow whose whole life is aimed at liberating Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. His steadiness and courage draw Elena to him and unsettle the Russian men around her.
The author
Ivan Turgenev
1818–1883 · Russian novelist
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short-story writer and playwright. He was born in Oryol in 1818 and died near Paris in 1883. He lived in Russia, Germany and France. His books include A Nobleman’s Nest (1859), Fathers and Sons (1862) and Virgin Soil (1877).
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