The novel of the historical fiction writer Lev Grigorievich Zhdanov (1865-1951), widely known before the revolution, who was recognized by the Russian reader thanks to his historical research, clothed in entertaining, dramatic, as a rule, narratives, reveals the last bitter years of the reign of Catherine II: the ruthless aging of a once beautiful domineering woman - and the dilapidation of the once brilliant policy of Russia, entrusted to her by the latter favorite Zubov.