Russia has a feminine character and a feminine face—much has been said about this by geopolitical thinkers and ethnopsychologists. But this face has many expressions. In his new novel, Ilya Boyashov tells the story of a Russian woman who rose from insignificance and filth to the summit of Olympus. Anyone who decides that before them is just another Cinderella story will be cruelly mistaken—Boyashov has presented us with an archetypal image of Russian femininity in all its brilliance, daring, and unattractiveness, an image through which emerge the painfully familiar features of the heroines of yesterday, today, and, it seems, the day to come. Having read «Stone Woman», one cannot help but look anew at the smiling prima donnas on the screen.