The summer of the Lord. Holidays. Joys. Sorrows.

Ivan Sergeyevich Shmelev (1873–1950) was a Russian writer and publicist, twice nominated for the Nobel Prize, nicknamed the "Orthodox writer" for his numerous texts on the spirituality of the Russian people. While in emigration, "not for a moment in his spiritual fervor does he cease to think about Russia and agonize over its misfortunes." The novel "The Lord's Summer" can rightfully be called the pinnacle of the writer and Orthodox thinker Ivan Shmelev's creativity. The book, which was worked on from 1933 to 1948, consists of three parts: "Holidays," "Joys," and "Sorrows." In this autobiographical work, the life of a patriarchal merchant family is shown through the eyes of a little boy. Russian way of life is described through the church liturgical year, starting from Great Lent, and family traditions. It is a narrative about old Moscow life, seen through the eyes of a child, and about the world of the Russian people, whose life is imbued with the Orthodox spirit and filled with Christian faith. The author himself wrote about the book "The Lord's Summer": "In it, I show the face of Holy Russia, which I carry in my heart... Russia, which peered into my childhood soul."