The novel takes place in the 1950s in Russia, slightly different from historical Russia. The main character, Nicodemus, learns from his mother's accidental slip that his father was a famous prose writer who disappeared some time ago under strange circumstances. Nicodemus, obeying a vague feeling, sets out to search for him. A series of remarkable incidents and extraordinary persons encountered along this path forms the external plot of the book. A novel written by a philologist and requiring a certain reading qualification may be of interest to a wide range of lovers of Russian literature.