Ivan Turgenev's "Spring Torrents" (1872)

Apparently this book is partly autobiographical, but what stood out for me was the timeless nature of the female characters. That a young, innocent beauty is always going to be out-played by a femme fatale when she sets to mind on acquiring her man, or rather, someone else's man. In a way this made me feel sad. The protagonist basically stuffs up his life because he was seduced by a woman who wanted to add him to her 'stable' and he couldn't resist her. She is likened to a hawk in the book - pitiless and victorious over her prey.

Anton Chekhov's "The Shooting Party" (1885)

This novel is one of the earliest detective stories ever written. I really enjoyed reading this novel, the only one Chekhov ever wrote. The thing I loved the most was the long passages where the narrator is blind drunk because the way Chekhov wrote you feel drunk reading it. Clearly this is a man who knew what being drunk was! I discovered at the back of my book that I had written a note of the full names of the characters because Russian names can be confusing.

We all know "The Cherry Orchard" but I think The Shooting Party gets overlooked and I say this as a fan of Chekhov's plays. For anyone looking for something a bit different to read this coming spring I really do suggest this book.