About the book: 1963 / “The heart is not a stone,” says the proverb. But it happens that the heart turns to stone in the pursuit of position, fame, in the affirmation of its small, selfish love. And yet, the world is ruled by other hearts - the ardent hearts of our contemporary, the hearts of communists, the ardent hearts of lovers, father's and mother's hearts. It is these hearts, flaming and petrified, that this novel talks about. A whole gallery of types was drawn by the author. Here are the young people - Oksana, Yarinka, Oleksa, and the brothers Kushchi - Vasil, and Fedor - who survived the storms of life, and their cousin Pavel. Their destinies are intricately intertwined. The author thoughtfully and wisely speaks about life, about the moral character of our Soviet man, about his future path. The second section of the book - the short story “From the Roads of Life” - is dedicated to work, duty, friendship, love.