This short novel is considered an important Russian classic written about the period of purges in which millions of Russians died. The novel primarily monitors the impact of lying on societies. The writer said that she wanted to show how an entire people can be poisoned by lies, just as military forces can be poisoned by gas. The novel dealt with deep psychological aspects that were formed in the model of the mother, to show how ideological propaganda, when it surrounds the entire society, can sow panic in the souls of people, distorting the strongest innate feelings represented by the feelings of the mother. Through her novel heroine, the writer presents us with a frightening model of the Soviet citizen in that era, revealing the psychological conflicts in which he engages when he is shocked by the ideology that he adopted and even worshiped. Then, her family was kidnapped from him in unbelievable scenes. Lydia Chukovskaya (1907 - 1996) was a Russian poet, novelist, and memoirist. Her husband was executed in the purges, and she narrowly escaped the same fate.
