It is the 1930s in the small village of Tartaria where Zuleijá, her rustic husband, thirty years older, and her elderly mother-in-law live, determined to punish her for not giving her grandchildren. The education received prevents the young woman from even resenting the degree of servitude to which she is subjected or from wanting a different life. But when a series of events tear her from her little family and throw her into a world no less brutal, but wider and more diverse, full of people of different backgrounds, trades and creeds, she will see her most deeply rooted beliefs crumble. . Over time, however, this forced material and moral exile will allow Zuleijá to give and receive affection, engender and even decide her fate. With her lively and versatile prose and the immense psychological insight of the great Russian novelistic tradition, Guzel Yájina recreates different voices and recounts the splendid awakening of a woman whose epic has touched thousands of readers around the world.