Mary Nabokova

 Mary (Russian: Mashen'ka,"Masen'ka") (Russian: Mashen'ka,) is the debut novel written by Vladimir Nabokov, first published under the pen name V. Sirin in 1926 by the Russian-language publisher "Slovo".Mary is the story of Lev Glebovich Ganin, a Russian emigre and former White Guard Officer displaced by the Russian Revolution. Ganin is now living in Berlin with Klara the young Russian girl, and Aleksey Ivanovich Alfyorov his neighbor. He meets Ganin in an old, dark elevator in the beginning of the novel. Through a series of interactions with Alfyorov and a photo, Ganin discovers that his long-lost love of his life, Mary, is now the wife of his indifferent neighbour, and she'll be joining him in the near future. Once Ganin is aware of this, he breaks off his relationship with his current partner, Lyudmila, and begins to become consumed by the memories of his experiences in Russia with Mary that Ganin says as "perhaps the most joyful times of his life". In awe of his image of Mary and unwilling to let Alfyorov take her away, Ganin contrives to reunite with Mary, who he believes is still in love with him.