The setting is the Ural land of “Rifey” and its capital—a city with a four-million population. Krylov, the novel’s main character, moved there when he was still very small and found his calling by those stones that have been mined in these mountains for ages. The story of how his seemingly accidental love affair grew into something greater and more painful echoes the search for wealth and the events unfolding in a country that is approaching the centennial of memorable revolutionary clashes.