The new novel by V. Chemeris describes the times when Europeans called Ukraine - with surprise and respect - the land of proud Cossacks, and Hetman Mazepa - their leader. This man is one of the most interesting iconic figures in Ukrainian history. A fighter for the interests of Ukraine, a master of diplomatic games, he put everything on the line and lost the most important game of his life and died in a foreign land. And this book is about the romantic adventures of Mazepa, the favorite of women and almost the only truly gifted poet and musician among the Ukrainian hetmans, about his lover - the young Motrya (Motrononka) Kochubey, whom he called "my last love, but the first true one."