Turgenev by Edward Garnett

_On the Eve_, not finished and published till 1859, but projected in 1855, and then laid aside for _Rudin_ and _A House of Gentlefolk_, holds depths of meaning which at first sight lie veiled under the simple harmonious surface. To the English reader _On the Eve_ is a charming picture of a quiet Russian household, with a delicate analysis of a young girl's soul. For Russians, however, on the background is cast the wavering shadow of Russia's national aspirations.

Elena, the heroine, as Turgenev tells us, was "a new type in Russian life," when his idea of her first began to trouble his imagination; but "I could not find the hero to whom she, with her vague but strong aspirations for liberty, could give herself. " In comparing her with Natalya and Liza the reader will remark that he is allowed to come into even closer spiritual contact with her than with them. When Elena stands before us we know the innermost secrets of her character. Her strength of will, her serious, courageous, proud soul, her capacity for passion, all the play of her idealistic nature troubled by the contradictions, aspirations, and unhappiness that the dawn of love brings to her, all this is conveyed to us by a simple and consummate art. The diary (chap. xvi.) that Elena keeps is in itself a masterly revelation of a young girl's heart; it has never been equalled by any other novelist.