Dejstvie romana proishodit v 50-h godah na odnom iz krupnyh himicheskih zavodov strany, postroennom esche v gody pervoj pyatiletki. V tsentre romana - dramaticheskaya sud'ba apparatchitsy Lili Kuznetsovoj. Pisatel' ostro stavit vopros o moral'noj otvetstvennosti lyudej za svoi postupki, o chesti i dostoinstve sovetskogo cheloveka.
Anatoly Naumovich Rybakov (Russian: Анатолий Наумович Рыбаков; January 14, 1911 – December 23, 1998) was a Soviet and Russian writer, the author of the anti-Stalinist Children of the Arbat tetralogy, novel Heavy Sand, and many popular children books including Adventures of Krosh, Dirk, Bronze Bird, etc. One of the last of his works was his memoir The Novel of Memoirs (Роман-Воспоминание) telling about all the different people (from Stalin and Yeltsin, to Okudzhava and Tendryakov) he met during his long life. Writer Maria Rybakova is his granddaughter.