Elena Chizhova, author of the books “The Time of Women” (Russian Booker), “Half-Breed”, “Little Tsakhes”, in the novel “Lavra” (shortlist for the Russian Booker Prize) continues her encyclopedia of life. This time her the heroine – the wife of a neophyte priest in the “stagnant years” – comprehends the basics of the difficult church life and existence... An extraordinary intelligent woman, she passionately plunges into a new reality for her, believing that it is here that she will hide from the falsehood and disappointments of everyday life. But here, too, a tragic substitution awaits her... The novel is not reduced to a church theme, it is rather an attempt to recreate a bygone time, one of its images.