'It was a wonderful night, the kind of night that can perhaps only happen when we are young, dear reader.' With this sentence, Dostoyevsky opens his story of an incipient love that arises from the chance encounter between the lonely narrator and the young Nastenka. Over four nights, the two reveal their fears and longings to each other. But Nastenka's heart belongs to someone else. Dostoyevsky's 'sensitive novel' tells of unfulfilled love in a moving and sensitive way.