Publisher's Synopsis
The "eve" in question is the start of the Crimean war. The setting, however, is provincial Russia (as usual in Turgenev's work) and the characters are a small circle of close friends. They're prone to earnest philosophical discussion. There's a slightly complex romance that drives the plot, and as might be expected things ultimately don't turn out well for the lovers. (This is, after all, a Russian novel.) If that sounds a bit pat, then let me assure you that Turgenev's wonderfully flowing prose draws the reader nicely and sympathetically along. BY Kay
