White Nights

'I'm a dreamer; I have so little real life that I regard such moments as this one, now, to be so rare that I can't help repeating these moments in my dreams.' One of Dostoyevsky's early short stories, White Nights is a poignant portrayal of loneliness, unrequited love and, ultimately, hope. A young man living alone in Saint Petersburg longs for companionship. With only his old maid, Matryona, to keep him company, he has resigned to a life of loneliness. That is until he meets the charming and beautiful Nastenka, whom he rescues from being harassed in the street. He confides in Nastenka about his feelings of isolation, and a budding friendship ensues. But as our protagonist's feelings grow, complications begin to surface; desires go unspoken, miscommunications arise and hearts get broken. Deeply moving and tender at its core, White Nights remains one of Dostoyevsky's hidden gems. Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821 – 1881) was a Russian novelist, journalist and philosopher. Famed for his masterpieces Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Adolescent, his works are characterised by profound psychological insight and existentialist exploration. Today, he is regarded as one of the greatest novelists of all time.