'Sometimes I ask myself why I need an external figure to write about: my mother, my father, Svetlana. Why can't I write about myself? Because I am the foundation of the mirror's reflective surface. A metallic coating. You can stare at the back of the mirror for a long time and see nothing but a fine, glittering dust. I reflect reality.' Oksana Vasyakina concludes her autofiction trilogy, which began with 'The Wound' and 'The Steppe,' with a novel in which she attempts to unravel the mystery of her aunt Svetlana's short, almost weightless life. From small fragments of memory, a complex image emerges in which a difficult relationship with her mother, domestic instability, and indifference to her own fate coexist with an almost childlike vulnerability and purity. But the further the heroine delves into Svetlana's story, the more she realizes her inextricable connection with her and the more she learns about herself and the nature of her writing. Oksana Vasyakina is a writer and winner of the Lyceum (2019) and NOS (2021) awards.