The book of memoirs by Alexandra Yuryeva, accompanied by comments by historian Kirsten Seaver, tells the life story of a naive, innocent girl from a good family; In the 1920s, she finds herself involved in a terrible process when people's destinies were broken before our eyes. Alexandra marries the Norwegian military man Vidkun Quisling, who helped Nansen in the fight against famine in Ukraine and in particular in Kharkov. He takes her abroad, but subsequently turns out to be a dishonest person who plays a double game in his private life. However, he also plays this game in political life - and subsequently he is convicted of espionage and executed for treason. The word “quisling” itself, especially during the Second World War, acquired the meaning of “traitor.” Yuryeva's story is similar to one of the most dramatic novels of the 20th century. We see a lonely, defenseless man, entangled in a terrible network of circumstances, which, in spite of everything, eventually manages to be thrown off. The book is interesting to everyone who questions history and the stories of living human lives.