At the heart of the novel lies the true story of two people—engineer Viktor Alekseyevich Weidengammer and Darya, the Queen—who lived at the end of the 19th century near the Optina Pustyn monastery. Darya, a gentle and deeply devout girl, spiritual daughter of the well-known Optina elder Joseph, contributed to Viktor Alekseyevich’s moral rebirth. After her sudden death, Viktor becomes a monk at Optina Pustyn.
This is a novel about human feelings and moral choice, about the secrets of a spiritual path and spiritual renewal. Ivan Shmelev has long earned the fame of a writer who, in his work, expresses a Orthodox view of the world.