Chapter 18 Summary

While leading a tour of the small museum dedicated to her father, the popular children's book author, Yelena Chukovskaya is asked why Solzhenitsyn just doesn't come back. What is he waiting for?" the visitor asks. Yelena realizes that most Soviet people have no idea how complicated this would be. Even worse, Yelena realizes that most of the country's youth have no idea who Solzhenitsyn is and why he was exiled. Yelena writes a brief article about Solzhenitsyn suggesting it is high time the government returns his citizenship. The editor at Book review goes out on a limb and published the article before it is approved by State censors. The public shows its support for Solzhenitsyn by writing thousands of letters to the Party demanding the rehabilitation of Solzhenitsyn and his works. After some intense negotiations, Solzhenitsyn's masterpiece, "The Gulag Archipelago," is published in...