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In this book, the Canadian writer and specialist in Russian literature Pierre-Louis Gagnon lifts the veil over some of the secrets associated with the award of the Nobel Prize to Ivan Bunin, who became the first laureate of Russian writers.

There were two real candidates - Maxim Gorky, who supported Stalin, and Ivan Bunin, who emigrated after the October Revolution. Among the supporters of each were those who were willing to do much to ensure the victory of their candidate. In the center of the unfolding intrigue is the USSR Ambassador to Sweden Alexandra Kollontai. Following instructions from the Kremlin, she is trying to use all her connections in political and literary circles in Sweden to tip the scales in favor of the proletarian writer. But influencing the Nobel Committee is not so easy, and its members prefer Ivan Bunin.

In the midst of this positional struggle, a Russian exile living in the south of France suddenly disappears. Is this not the intrigues of the OGPU and its agents from the Comintern, which are inundated with all European capitals? The looming scandal could cause irreparable damage to the prestige of the Nobel Prize ...