White Nights

About this book

White Nights is a tender and melancholic novella about a lonely, introspective dreamer living in St. Petersburg who, during the city's bright summer "white nights," meets a young woman named Nastenka on a bridge. Over four nights, they share their deepest feelings, and the dreamer—who has spent his life in isolation, finding solace only in books and fantasies—falls deeply in love with her. Nastenka, however, is waiting for a young man she loves who promised to return for her after a year apart. The dreamer helps her contact him, and though she briefly seems to turn toward the dreamer, her true love suddenly reappears and she rushes back to him, leaving the dreamer alone once more. The story ends with the dreamer, heartbroken but not bitter, grateful for the brief moment of warmth and human connection she gave him, and returning to his solitary life of dreams.