Vladimir Sharov, a historian and novelist, is not afraid to present history as a fascinating action, a play of meanings and allusions - primarily biblical. His personal theme is the Stalinist era, a time of big ideas and big passions. “Old girl” Vera Radostina, a convinced communist, the wife of Stalin’s People’s Commissar, loses everything - her husband, shot in 1937, her children, her house... Deciding to put an end to the fate destined for her , she begins to “live backwards”: day after day, rolling up her former life like a carpet. The milestones on this long journey are the detailed diary entries that she kept daily from the age of five.