Turgenev expressed agreement that the second half of the novel, "was not very necessary", but explained, "I allowed myself to be carried away by memories." Most revealingly, Turgenev told Isaac Pavlovski, "The entire novel is true. I personally lived and felt it. It is my own history." () Composition Turgenev likely began work on what became Torrents of Spring in 1870. Though originally planned as a short story it had expanded to novel length by the time it was finally completed in late 1871. It first saw publication in the January 1872 edition of the Vestnik Evropy (Herald of Europe), the major liberal magazine of late nineteenth century Russia. Though the novel was somewhat unusual for Turgenev in that it was nearly devoid of political or social themes, it enjoyed a great success from its first appearance. The issue of the Vestnik Evropy in which it was first published had to be reprinted, an unprecedented event in the history of Russian periodicals. Plot The story opens with a middle-aged Dmitry Sanin rummaging through the papers in his study when he comes across a small cross set with garnets, which sends his thoughts back thirty years to 1840. In the summer of 1840, a twenty-two-year-old Sanin, arrives in Frankfurt en route home to Russia from Italy at the culmination of a European tour. During his one-day layover he visits a confectioner's shop where he is rushed upon by a beautiful young woman who emerges frantic from the back room. She is Gemma Roselli, the daughter of the shop's proprietress, Leonora Roselli. Gemma implores Sanin to help her younger brother who has passed out and seems to have stopped breathing. Thanks to Sanin's aid, the boy – whose name is Emilio – emerges from his faint. Grateful for his assistance, Gemma invites Sanin to return to the shop later in the evening to enjoy a cup of chocolate with the family. Later that evening, Sanin formally meets the members of the Roselli household. These include the matriarch, Leonora (or Lenore) Roselli, her daughter Gemma, her son Emilio (or Emile), and the family friend Pantaleone, a rather irascible old man and retired opera singer. Over conversation that evening Sanin grows increasingly enamoured with the young Gemma, while the Roselli family is also well-taken by the young, handsome, educated, and gracious Russian. Sanin so enjoys his evening that he forgets about his plans to