Heavenly Ways

Ivan Sergeyevich Shmelev (1873-1950) — a Russian writer and publicist, twice nominated for the Nobel Prize; nicknamed «the Orthodox writer» for a large number of texts on the spirituality of the Russian people. While in emigration, «not for a moment... in his soul's burning does he cease to think of Russia and suffer from its misfortunes».

In the novel «Heavenly Ways», the concept of the third volume of which was never realized due to the author's death, a real love story is reflected between engineer V.A. Veidenhammer and the novice of the Passion Monastery, Darinka Koroleva, who left her monastery for him. Thanks to this encounter, the religious skeptic-positivist Viktor unexpectedly discovered a world previously unknown to him. Supported by his beloved, strong in spirit and sincere in her faith, he was able to embark on the path of enlightenment.
The author vividly depicted the development of spiritual feeling, which began with the knowledge of sin redemption and repentance and led to the Source of life. The foundation for the revelation of the fates and characters of the heroes was the ascetic worldview, the traditions of which were not inherent in the secular culture of the 19th-20th centuries.