The novel is dedicated to the fate of the family of the Tsarist general Dmitry Voronovsky, who emigrated to France in 1920. After World War II, the heroes of the novel return to the Soviet Union, where they experience persecution as descendants of the first wave of emigrants. In the first book of the novel, the action takes place in France. The author describes some historical events in which the heroes of the book were direct participants. Many famous personalities served as prototypes for them: Tatyana Yakovleva, Mother Maria (in the world Elizaveta Skobtsova), Nikolai Berdyaev and others.