A summary of "The Cursed Gift" by Tatyana Korsakova

This book is a 2011 mystical novel. The narrative seamlessly weaves together wartime and modern-day events through the story of one family, the cursed Viper Swamp, and a mysterious ancient entity. The plot unfolds linearly, interspersing chapters about the life of Komsomol member Asya in an occupied village with chapters about the ordeals of modern-day cardiologist Alena.

The novel is part of the author’s popular "Signs of Fate" series. It is number ninth in this cycle. Other works in this series include "The Witch’s Treasure," "Wolf’s Blood," "Time of the Black Moon," and "Angel’s Tear."

Wartime

In the spring of 1943, a Soviet plane is shot down over the dense Sivy Forest. A village girl, Asya, goes to the pilot’s aid. She has to cross the Viper Swamp, an extremely dangerous area shrouded in impenetrable fog. She finds the seriously wounded Alexei Zagorsky and drags him through the quagmire.

On a tiny island in the middle of a swamp lives an old, blind Guardian. The locals call her Granny Whisperer. She protects the area from the Moroch. This predatory entity feeds on lost souls and creates swamp fogs. Alexey is dying. Asya refuses to accept her lover’s death. She uses a magical lasso woven from hair and a leather belt. The lasso inexorably binds the soul of the deceased pilot to Asya. Alexey remains in the world of the living as a ghost, visible only to Asya and the Guardian.

Soon, the German occupiers organize large-scale punitive raids. Lieutenant Klaus Fischer extracts information about the partisans. The village elder, Zakhar Pritsepin, develops a morbid, destructive passion for Asya. He betrays the girl, accusing her of ties to the forest resistance, but then takes her away from execution, hiding her in a cellar. Beaten with whips, Asya is saved by Granny Sheptukha and the ghost of Alexei. The old Guardian transfers her duties to Asya, initiates her into the secrets of the swamp, and dies. Asya takes her place on the island.

Alexey, now a ghost, joins the partisans and organizes sabotage operations on the railroad. During one of their raids, the punitive forces drive the detachment into a swamp. Alexey sacrifices himself to cover his comrades’ retreat. Asya feels his pain but is unable to save him. Moroch constantly tries to break the will of the new Guardian, sending visions and the ghosts of fallen villagers. For example, the spirit of Uncle Fedos asks Asya to save the soul of his son Ales from the swamp’s captivity.

A year later, Asya gives birth to a daughter with Alexey. Moroch is eager to take the baby. Saving the girl, Asya gives her to Ganna, the widow of Zakhar, who was shot by partisans. Ganna repents of her previous attacks on Asya and promises to raise the child as her own. She takes her adopted daughter hundreds of kilometers away, near Smolensk. Asya voluntarily throws the lasso into the black water. She condemns herself to eternal service to Moroch, so that the swamp creature will not pursue the child.

Our days

Many decades later, young cardiac surgeon Alena Pritsepina finds herself a patient in an elite psychiatric hospital. Alena is Asya’s granddaughter. The girl suffers from profound amnesia and violent hallucinations. She constantly draws strange patterns with charcoal on the walls of ward number fourteen. The windows of her room are constantly covered with swarms of moths.

Yegor Steshko is the hospital’s director. Yegor dated Alena during his medical studies, but he harbored a burning envy of her surgical talent. He had previously attempted to stab her to death in a dark alley. The crime remained unsolved. Now, Yegor deliberately doses Alena with massive doses of powerful antipsychotics. The medications keep Alena’s mind in a gray haze, robbing her of her willpower and memory.

A new orderly, Matvey Plakhov, joins the clinic. In reality, Matvey works as a private detective. He urgently needs money to pay for his mother’s surgery in Germany. Matvey’s employer is a criminal known as Stavros. Stavros promises to pay him one hundred thousand dollars. In exchange, the detective is to kidnap Alena from the secure clinic and bring her to a designated location.

The orderly quickly finds common ground with the veteran nurse, Petrovich. Petrovich respects Alena because she once saved his life during a major heart operation. Matvey stops forcibly administering will-depressing drugs to Alena. Alena’s consciousness rapidly clears. She remembers her name and realizes Yegor Steshko’s criminal intentions.

Noticing the victim’s recovery, the head doctor takes out a syringe containing a lethal dose of insulin. He plans to administer the drug and stage an accident. Matvey intervenes just in time. The detective stuns Steshko with a powerful blow, takes Alyona, and drives her away. Left in the ward, Yegor dies of mechanical asphyxiation: his airways are filled with moths, representing the restless souls of the tortured patients.

Revealing the secret

At a country house, Matvey and Alena meet Stavr. It turns out that Stavr is a ghost. Last fall, he was illegally digging for weapons in the Viper Swamp. A live grenade exploded in his hands. Alena was accidentally picking cranberries fifty meters from the explosion. She tried to stop the gushing bleeding. She placed an ancient lasso she found in the grass on Stavr’s mutilated hand.

A bloody belt bound the soul of the dead Stavros to the living Alena. Since then, Stavros has been suspended in a shadow spirit state. Alena was struck by Moroch and lost her mind. Stavros’s ghost hired Matvey to rescue the girl and force her to lift the witch’s curse.

Having grasped the full picture, the heroes travel to Alena’s home village. Before her death, Baba Ganna left behind valuable instructions. In a dream, the spirit of the late Guardian Asya appears to Matvey. She reveals the exact location of the hiding place. Matvey retrieves a small bundle of blessed salt from under the porch of the local church. This protective amulet is supposed to aid in the battle against evil.

Return to the swamp

At night, Alena, Matvey, and the ghost of Stavr enter the Viper Swamp. Moroch senses the approach of enemies. The quagmire boils, emitting choking gases and forming a thick fog. The swamp water turns into long whips. The entity tries to drag Alena to the bottom, persuading her to accept its magical power. The ghost of Stavr desperately tugs at Alena’s rope, but is losing the battle with the natural anomaly.

Matvey breaks through the foggy wall. He throws handfuls of enchanted salt directly into the black whirlpools. The salt burns away the swamp slime and causes the fog to recede. The detective snatches the wounded Alena from the icy water and carries her to shore. Stavros is also saved thanks to Matvey’s intervention.

The team reaches an ancient hut on the island. The blind Guardian Asya awaits them inside. Grandmother and granddaughter meet face to face. Asya transmits her memories to Alena through a mystical touch. The granddaughter sees the entire story of love, betrayal, and self-sacrifice. Asya wants to end Moroch’s power once and for all. She orders the leather lasso to be burned in the fire.

Alena voluntarily unties the knot on her wrist and throws the belt into the fire. The fire consumes the cursed object. Stavros’s soul is instantly freed from its earthly bonds, and the black digger passes on to the other world.

For Alena, destroying the lasso is tantamount to death. She collapses, breathless. The Old Guardian orders Matvey to act quickly. Asya cuts Matvey’s palm with a sharp knife. By mixing the blood, the grandmother imparts to Matvey the last remnants of her mystical powers. The energy should be enough for a short dash beyond the swamp. Asya orders them to carry her granddaughter’s unconscious body away from the lake.

Matvey scoops Alena up in his arms. He pushes through the thinning fog and emerges onto the solid ground of the Gray Forest. The Guardian remains on the island, completely alone. The woman descends to the shoreline. Alexei’s ghost appears beneath her feet. The lovers are reunited after decades of separation.

The lake water overflows its banks in a powerful wave. The torrents flood the island and destroy the Viper Swamp. The ancient entity perishes in the watery depths. Alena comes back to life in Matvey’s arms. The heroes leave the Gray Forest, receiving a chance for a long and happy life.