Flappers & Fiction

Poor Makar wants only enough brick tea and vodka to forget his frozen, miserable existence in the remote Yakut forests. But when a Christmas Eve hunt ends in the snowdrifts, he wakes to face an authority far more daunting than the local police. Standing before the Great Toyon, with massive scales ready to weigh his sins against his wretched toil, the lifelong mute must suddenly find the voice to defend his soul. It is a judgment that asks a trembling question: does earthly suffering count as heavenly virtue?