At its core, it is the story of the right to freedom as inalienable in human nature but nonexistent in Soviet Russia. Natacha always defends her freedom and pays the consequences; it is observed how others resign themselves to the situation, and those who oppose it are eliminated as enemies of the people.
Furthermore, the novel is a transposition of the “Beauty and the Beast” myth: Natacha is a beautiful, passionate woman full of virtues, although also somewhat wild and terrible. Luka, who always accompanies her, is a deformed being with great physical strength and admirable loyalty, simplicity, and nobility.
It covers collectivization, World War II, the Cold War, and the period after Stalin’s death. After Stalin’s death, the mass killings and deportations ceased, but ideology, lack of freedom, selective killings, corruption, etc., remained.
It is then discovered by chance the perfection of Natacha’s voice, already declared a Heroine of the Fatherland, and the state intervenes so that she represents the excellence of the Soviet state in opera, regardless of Natacha’s desires (Sedov says: “In Russia, a man has never been worth more than a bug”).
The author’s point of view is opposed to the Soviet system; he highlights the lack of freedom, deception as a method (Luka: [when they go to the West] “Is it a lie? // Aren’t they hungry? They have everything, Luka, they lack nothing. Their granaries overflow, and they eat meat every day”), and the nonexistence of other human rights, especially the disregard for human life (“they will program your life and will not allow you to intervene”), considered only as another cog in the state machine. [The description of Natacha’s induced abortion under the pretense of an appendectomy and the murder of her husband mark a before and after in the book.]
It is an interesting, realistic, harsh, linear novel, well-developed, enlightening, and historically rigorous. The theme of war is very extensive, with constant brutality (Luka points out: “killing man by man, a thirst for death fueled by blind and fierce hatred” // “war is an insatiable and immortal ogre as long as men keep feeding it,” “oh mother, mother, is this how we want to save Europe...? With this slaughter, neither Germans nor Russians are saved… Why so much horror? Why so much madness over and over again?”, “War has turned us into savages,” etc.).
Perhaps for that very reason, due to the horror of war experienced by many of its protagonists, it can be considered pacifist. Historical characters are mixed with fictional ones. There are many references to God, although the Soviets tried to destroy and erase religion, as it is said: “it is wisdom that nothing and no one can take away.”
Heinz Günther Konsalik (pseudonym of Heinz Günther) (1921-1999) was a German writer. He was a soldier and war correspondent during World War II. Afterward, he devoted himself to writing and reflected his experiences in his novels (he wrote as many as two hundred); the most famous is The Doctor of Stalingrad.