You Can't Go There

What could heal you? What hurts you the most? For what—or for whom—are you ready to do anything?

These three questions are asked of a newcomer at an interview by the owner of the Strange Garden—an enigmatic place lost in the thick forests of some region, on the shore of a lake with countless names, each of which everyone will name in their own way.

The Strange Garden is an unusual rehabilitation center for men in a crisis situation. Lost and wandering, when they arrive here, can take comfort, gain strength, heal the soul, and regain the ability to move forward. Not for nothing did the fates of the center’s inhabitants bring them here—their lives are tightly intertwined. And each of them deserves a separate novel, or maybe an immersive performance, a heartbreaking TV series, an academic research study… Or a fairy tale.

But who is that woman who set up this belated boy’s paradise—with carp, puppies, bonfires, and treasure hunts? A doctor? A businesswoman? A bored rich lady? What’s her name—even?

“Good my ones,” she calls them gently and kindly, and rumors about her are the wildest. What role does she play in this fairy tale?

The novel “There Is No Coming Back” by the well-known writer and playwright Ksenia Dragunskaya entered the long list of the “Big Book” prize for 2021.