Ivan Paderin’s novel “When Stones Bloom” is devoted to the final stage of the Great Patriotic War: the forcing of the Vistula and the Oder, and the assault on Berlin—when the maturity, combat skill of our commanders, and the heroism of Soviet soldiers manifested with exceptional power. Against the backdrop of these historical events, the writer introduces readers to the family of a factory worker and communist, Frol Koryukov. His son Maxim is the main hero of the novel—a commander of a rifle regiment; his daughter Varya is a military radio operator. Youngest son Vasily also went to the front as a junior lieutenant, but cowardice turned him into an outcast, harshly condemned by the family and the Motherland.