Summary

USSR, Moscow, The Lubyanka, Lubyanka Square, Headquarters of the Secret Police, January 21, 1950 – Polina Peshkova, an artist, keeps her diary hidden behind the fireplace where it is found by the Secret Police after Polina accidentally leaves a sooty fingerprint on her writing desk. The simple act of hiding a diary is a crime against the State, for there is no gap between a person’s private and public life. MGB State Security Agent Leo Demidov heads up the investigation. At 27, he is a committed Communist and will do whatever is necessary to safeguard the Revolution and the State. He has gone through innumerable journals like Polina’s. Leo remembers his first such case, when he is given a journal by his mentor, Nikolai Borisov. Leo had found nothing criminal in the journal, but Borisov pointed out an entry mentioning delight at the new Constitution where...