The work of Ivan Sergeevich Shmelev, rediscovered in the late 80s of the twentieth century, occupies a special place in the history of Russian literature. The writer looks at the world through the prism of a deep Orthodox faith, his works are permeated with psychologism, and the richness of their language returns the reader to the best examples of Russian prose. This collection includes two works by Ivan Shmelev. The epic “Sun of the Dead” is a tragic story about the life and death of people during the period of famine and the fratricidal Civil War, described with pain and rage by an eyewitness. The novel “Heavenly Paths,” which the writer dedicated to his wife, tells the story of two people, the poor girl Daria Koroleva and the rich engineer Viktor Alekseevich Weidenhammer, whose love becomes both a test for both of them and the beginning of their spiritual transformation and the path to God.