A cool mind, prudence, determination, constant control of the mind over feelings - these are not feminine qualities endowed by the heroine of the novel “Freedom within Wide Limits, or the Modern Amazon,” which gave the title to Alexander Biryukov’s fifth prose book. “Amazonism” according to Biryukov is a militant female egocentrism that arose as a result of the hourly battles of a modern woman for home, love, work - for self-realization, battles in which the hope “for a miracle of happiness and love” is irrevocably destroyed. Heroes of the story “Anton Unknown to You” - “small”, inconspicuous people - find themselves involved in a completely adventurous story with blackmail, extortion and secret connections with foreign countries. And the quiet absurdity of their ordinary existence is suddenly illuminated by the light of high feelings: love, true nobility, sacrifice and forgiveness.