Mary

 Mary (Russian Mashen'ka, Masen'ka) is the first novel written by Vladimir Nabokov, first published under the pen name V. Sirin in 1926 by Russian-language publisher "Slovo".Mary is the story of Lev Glebovich Ganin, a Russian exile and former White Guard Officer displaced by the Russian Revolution. Ganin is now living in Berlin with Klara, a young Russian girl and his girlfriend Lydia Nikolaevna Dorn. He also meets Aleksey Ivanovich Alfyorov in an elevator that is dark and deteriorating at the start of the story. Through a series conversations with Alfyorov and a photograph, Ganin discovers that his long-lost first love, Mary, is now the wife of his rather disapproving neighbour, and that she'll be joining his family soon. Once Ganin realises this, he breaks off the relationship with his girlfriend, Lyudmila, and begins to lose himself in his memories of his time in Russia with Mary that Ganin notes were "perhaps the happiest days in his entire life". Enthralled by his image of Mary and in a state of denial that he can let Alfyorov have her, Ganin contrives to reunite with Mary whom he believes is still in love with him.