"Before I died" is a semi-fantastical novel about those who are now around 40. More precisely, about what those people will become in their venerable age. The story takes place in 2039 at a nursing home near Moscow, where “second youth” — yesterday’s cream of the “creative class” — arrives to live out its days. Sofia Bulgakova, once a well-known journalist, moves to the retirement facility at the urging of her only son, believing she will only spend the summer there, working on the novel she dreamed of writing her whole life. But very soon she realizes she’s stuck here for a long time, and that the other residents are far from simple—and many of them she had encountered in her past life… Anna Babyashkina: “This text is an attempt to imagine what we (me and my peers) will become when we reach old age. What will we be ashamed of? What will we be proud of in thirty years, and what will we regret?” The book is a winner of the “Debut” prize, included in the longlist of the “Natsbest” award. The novel has been translated into English.