The novel, written in German by Kyiv-born Russian-speaking author Katja Petrowskaja, has garnered significant attention and received numerous awards. Notably, it was praised for the author's ability to describe the indescribable events of the past century, such as war, the Holocaust, and Babyn Yar, as part of a family history. She lovingly wove everything she knew about her ancestors into a captivating narrative fabric.

This novel echoes the writing style of W. G. Sebald, whose prose, according to one researcher, "the reflected gaze — the reciprocal gaze of the past — recreates the observer" (M. Malikova).

The novel has been awarded the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, the Strega Europeo Prize, the Schubart Literature Prize of the city of Aalen, the Ernst Toller Prize, and the Aspekte Literature Prize. The book has been translated into twenty languages.