Good evening and welcome to the Sleepy Bookshelve.

This season we'll be reading White Nights by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky.

We know our listeners are as unique as our novels and lucky for you, our bookshelve is

varied with lots of different types of stories to long you into a deep sleep.

The following is a preview to give you an idea of what to expect from this season.

White Nights is a novella that was first published in 1848.

It begins with a chance encounter between the unnamed narrator and a young woman,

Nostanka, one spring night in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Both are feeling lonely and adrift in their own lives and they find comfort in one another

through their long conversations.

They meet to talk night after night.

Nostanka makes the narrator promise her one thing that he won't fall in love with her

as she has a lover she separated from.

But over the course of their brief friendship he notices his feelings for her growing stronger

and stronger.

The novella deals with notions of belonging, happiness and unrequited love and it shows

the bitter sweet beauty of small, chance encounters with other people, especially after

periods of distance or disconnection, a theme that can be particularly poignant these days.

We hope you will join us for this season, however if you decide that white nights isn't

your cup of tea, that's okay.

Feel free to explore the rest of the bookshelve.

We're sure you'll find something to help guide you into a restful sleep.

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