The novel is based on real events. One and a half thousand kilometers of railway were laid by prisoners from the northern Urals to the lower reaches of the Yenisei through the taiga and swamps. The ‘Great Stalinist Highway’ turned out to be unnecessary as soon as its ideological inspirer died, but over four years, enormous resources were thrown into its construction, the most valuable of which were human lives and destinies. The novel is built as a story of several families. It is about love, power and beauty of a person, about the formation of personality at a turning point in history, about the confrontation and coexistence of man and nature. The unhurried, attentive narration captivates and does not let go of the reader until the last sentence and long after.