Fathers and Children is Turgenev's best known work and possibly the first truly modern Russian novel. Yevgeny Bazarov, a young medical student and nihilist, challenges the old order of his father's generation, rejecting any authority or faith not based on science and experience. When Yevegeny falls victim to the emotional pains of his unrequited love for the alluring yet capricious Anna Odintsova—and then to an accidental exposure to typhus—he comes face to face with forces beyond philosophical control.