Andrei Norushkin, the main character of the novel, is given the sacred right to be the keeper of the mystical bell of fate, hidden in an underground tower and silent until the time comes. But if the bell strikes, expect a thunderstorm, the result of which is unpredictable. So what is this novel about? I would say about responsibility. Only everyone has it at a different level. Most often limited to a narrow circle of loved ones and relatives. The Norushkin family is responsible, no less, for the fate of Russia. There are seven towers of Satan on earth, according to the number of the main angels who descended from heaven to earth to lie down with the daughters of men, and to reveal to the sons of men what was hidden and to tempt them into sins. That's why they look not at the sky, but at the ground. Two of them are in Russia. The towers are regularly supervised by wandering sorcerers, demon worshipers, who are called ubyrki - at the instigation of the evil one, the ubyrki, in due time, send black troubles through these jaws of the underworld into the world. The tower, located on the Norushkin family estate - Pobudkino, had long been cleansed of filth and regularly served in the fight against evil. And at all times the duty of the male Norushkins was to not allow evil spirits to reach that tower. The novel depicts the history of this family over several centuries. Not all, but many of them, in difficult times, following an inner call, descended into the dungeon and “woke up” the Russian people with the ringing of a bell. Perhaps it is to this tower that we owe both the Decembrist uprising and the victory in the last bloody war, not counting other little things, such as the default when a ferret got into it through a hole. The fee for ringing is non-refundable. And only on the last pages of the novel do we learn what happened to those who ventured downstairs. Paying tribute to Fowles’ “The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” Krusanov gives two endings depending on whether the protagonist’s coin lands “heads” or “tails.” Although, the second ending - laying the entrance to the tower, is essentially just a temporary reprieve from the inevitable. In 2003, the novel became a finalist for the prestigious National Bestseller Award.