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Not all loves come together; Not all loves fade away; some remain dormant as an indelible image of memory within us and gnaws at us from inside only during the loneliest hours. Especially, the first love!

This is such a story of a loving image which lives forever in the shadow of an ill-fated lover. It has been years that Ganin saw Mary lastly. But her smiling eyes, her twitching lips, and her halo in the evening sun remain as fresh as morning’s rain in his memory. The past is irretrievable but also unforgettable and the future is uncertain, while the present offers nothing but a hopeless, dull reality. Mary seems to be the only medicine for his never ending, isolated living.

While the countries were making war, they were waging love in the autumnal evening, careless of sneaky eyes behind the tainted glasses. He has been dragging his shadow to all places but part of him, he thinks, always belongs to Mary. Ganin, now, in a foreign city, recollects everything about Mary, and grows drunk with her memories. Now, even the memory of her cheap perfume seems luxurious to him. But, an old, faded photograph in a neighbor’s table-drawer announces to him that she is not his anymore.

Imagine, what Mary would mean to someone who is living in an exile from his home land and who lost everything. Her arrival gives him hope for a promising escape from his bleak life in his dull lodge. To doubt her love for him, after all these years, is pointless, he thinks. She has always loved him. But, what-if can’t be excluded. Here, he awaits the arrival of Mary with the memory of her image, sitting on a cold, park bench.

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The questions of reality pass his mind. The world of memories grows darker while the image of Mary flickers. The sleeping, drunken husband, back in his old place, can be thought of. Now, not letting the arriving reality hinder with her memory seems to be the only viable step to preserve the loving image of Mary. ‘Other than that image no Mary existed, nor could exist� - He thinks. There he is boarding a train taking him to a distant city.
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This is not only a story of a first love but also the first book of Nabokov. Another strong example which portrays the unmatched writing ability of Nabokov. There are paragraphs where he can make you get lost in the woods and get caught by the lovers for observing them closely. Purely magical!