Kosmac constructs the novel around the return of a man to his native environment after years of absence. The encounter with the landscape, village and people awakens memories of childhood and youth and brings the protagonist into contact with a past that can no longer simply be recovered. The natural landscape of the region around the Idrijca River plays an important role, while personal memories and the historical upheavals experienced by Slovenia form an inseparable background to the narrative. The novel moves between present observation and recollection, combining intimate psychological experience with a broader portrait of rural Slovenian society. Kosma?'s clear and vivid prose, his attention to local life and his restrained use of symbolism give the work a distinctive atmosphere of nostalgia, loss and renewal. Pomladni dan, first published in Slovenian in 1953, is generally regarded as one of Kosmac's most important works. Ciril Kosmac (1910-1980) was a Slovenian writer whose work is closely associated with social realism. He drew extensively on his childhood in the Slovenian Littoral and on his experiences during the turbulent political and military history of the twentieth century. His writing is particularly known for short stories and novellas, with Pomladni dan and Balada o trobenti in oblaku among his best-known works. His prose combines precise observation of rural life with psychological depth, memory and a strong sense of place. A Day in Spring was translated into English by Fanny Susan Copeland and first appeared in English in 1959. The 1988 Ljubljana edition was issued within the Vilenica Slovene Contemporary Literature Collection.