The whole country admired her mesmerizing beauty, while the actress herself often became a hostage of this universal admiration - after all, it was often accompanied by envy. The fame of an unapproachable beauty with a strong character was assigned to her from her youth, although she herself did not consider her appearance extraordinary. “I was never told about my appearance as a child...” she admitted. In 1955, she successfully auditioned for the role of Aksinya in “Quiet Don” by Sergei Gerasimov. The director's student Nonna Mordyukova was applying for this role; because of the refusal, she almost committed suicide. But Mikhail Sholokhov himself insisted on Bystritskaya’s candidacy, seeing in her the real heroine of his novel. The role of Aksinya became an acting triumph for Bystritskaya. “Quiet Don” was recognized as the film of the year - 1957, it was watched by 47 million viewers. The new book by Yulia Andreeva tells about what personal tragedies the most beautiful actress of the last century hid in her unapproachable and proud gaze.