1924. Soviet Russia is in mourning - the leader of the proletariat has died. But for the Russian White emigrants who fled from the Bolsheviks and the Red Terror to France, Lenin’s death becomes a joyful event: now the rich manufacturers and plant owners ruined by the revolution have a glimmer of hope of regaining their lost wealth and leaving the country in which they are forced to endure poverty and can barely make a living ends meet. Their joy is overshadowed by one thing: the Western powers, one after another, are beginning to recognize the USSR, and if France follows this example, then events will not develop as the former citizens of the Russian Empire would like. The Russian emigration froze in anxious anticipation...Political events taking place in the world, willy-nilly, invade the life of the young lyceum student Alyosha, to whom the questions that interest his parents seem stupid and far-fetched. After all, he himself is concerned with completely different problems... The fate of the main character of the novel largely echoes the fate of the author, whose family was also forced to leave Russia after the revolution and emigrate to France. Therefore, it is quite possible that in addition to the pleasure of reading this amazingly touching and exciting work by Henri Troyat, you will find interesting and little-known facts from the biography of the famous writer.