About the book: year / The action of the novel takes place in May 1692 on the territory of White Rus', which was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in the Mir Castle, near Minsk. The main character of the novel, Vladislav Slavuta, a nobleman from an ancient but seedy Orthodox family, investigates the murder of Princess Radziwill's maid, and at the same time remembers his life. Analyzing the events he witnessed, Slavuta experiences conflicting feelings: he fought all his life for the Polish crown, but at the end of his life he comes to the conclusion that in the future the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth will face an inevitable collapse, and the Russian lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania will reunite with Russia. The plot of the work is fictional, but most of the characters are real historical figures.