A summary of "The House That Grandfather Built" by Boris Vasiliev

Written in 1991, the novel chronicles the story of a Smolensk noble family against the backdrop of the upheavals of World War I and the Civil War. The plot centers on the fates of a career officer and his relatives, forced to make agonizing choices amid the collapse of the state. The work is part of the "History of the Oleksin Family" series. Chronologically, it continues the narrative of the noble family and is the fifth book in the series, following the novels "The Gambler and the Swordsman, the Gambler and the Duelist," "True Stories and Untold Tales," "And There Was Evening, and There Was Morning," and "Assuage My Sorrows."

World War I

Leonid Starshov, a student at the infantry cadet school, is boating on a pond with his classmates Lekarev and von Grosse. Their boat accidentally collides with the boat of Varvara Oleksina and her friend Susanna. Leonid retrieves a fallen book of poetry from the water. Five months later, Ensign Starshov marries Varya. The bride’s father, retired Major General Nikolai Ivanovich Oleksin, is grumpy about the marriage, predicting Russia’s defeat in the war.

After his honeymoon, Starshov leaves for the front. Near the Ravka River, the company is caught in a German chlorine gas attack. Starshov forces the soldiers to breathe through urine-soaked shirts and personally returns to the lowlands to rescue the abandoned guard. Thanks to his harsh measures, the soldiers survive. Leonid receives the Order of St. George and is cured of a chronic cough.

Meanwhile, in Smolensk, the general’s youngest daughter, sixteen-year-old Tatyana, confesses to her father that she is pregnant. The general takes her to the village of Knyazhoye, to the estate of a distant relative, Rufina Erastovna Slukhacheva. In Knyazhoye, Tatyana gives birth to a daughter, Anna, who is passed off as an orphan. The general’s son, Vladimir, loses a large sum at cards. His enraged father sends him as a volunteer to a reserve regiment in Vyazma. The eldest daughter, Olga, marries the widower merchant Vasily Paramonovich Kuchnov. The Kuchnovs begin renovating their mansion, temporarily moving into the Oleksin family’s house. Varya remains in the city and gives birth to a son, Mikhail.

In 1916, Starshov rose to the rank of lieutenant. The company was commanded by Vikenty Ilyich Nezvany. Among the new recruits was Ensign Dolsky, a former convict. Dolsky maintained aloofness and disappeared shortly before the February Revolution. The front began to disintegrate, and soldiers held protests. His subordinate, Prokhor Antipov, forced Starshov to become a delegate to the soldiers’ committee.

At a meeting with a State Duma deputy, Leonid is surprised to see Vladimir Oleksin. A relative with a red ribbon on his chest delivers pompous speeches. Later, Starshov goes to the Germans to rescue three drunken parliamentary soldiers. On the way back, a Russian battery opens fire on them. Starshov narrowly escapes. It turns out that the order to shoot was given by Lekarev, who served at the front headquarters. Starshov reaches the basement where the soldiers have locked Lekarev, but his former friend punches him in the face and escapes.

The collapse of the old world

After the hospital, Starshov is given leave. The journey home takes a long time due to transport chaos. On the train, he saves Captain Danilenko from being lynched by brutal soldiers. Danilenko flees, convinced Starshov is leading him to execution. Arriving in Knyazhoy, Leonid spends several happy days with his wife. They have a daughter, Rufina.

General Oleksin becomes close to Rufina Erastovna and soon marries her. Tatyana falls in love with a village teacher, Fedos Platonovich Minin. During unrest in Smolensk, Minin is shot. Tatyana brings him to the home of the governor’s niece, Anna Vonvonlyarskaya. After his recovery, Minin and Tatyana register their marriage with the Soviet authorities. Fedos becomes an active Bolshevik and the organizer of a village cell in Knyazhoy. Vladimir Oleksin flees Smolensk for Vyazma, begs forgiveness from Lidochka, whom he seduced, marries her, and changes his surname to Alekseyev.

In the fall of 1917, Starshov headed to Petrograd. On the train, he accidentally encountered von Grosse, now a bank manager. Grosse gave Leonid a receipt for the Socialist Revolutionary Party cash register and asked him to deliver it to David Filkevich. The baron’s wife, Susanna, created a scandal by helping Starshov escape the train unnoticed. Having completed the task, Leonid arrived in the capital. The authorities entrusted him with the military training of a Red Guard workers’ detachment. The detachment’s commander, Zatyrin, viewed Starshov with suspicion and soon sent him to the command of People’s Commissar Pavel Dybenko.

Starshov is appointed as the manager of the Tauride Palace for the duration of the Constituent Assembly. Sailor Anatoly Zheleznyakov rehearses a plan to disrupt the meeting with the help of noisy youths on the balconies. Leonid sees Lenin laughing at the chaos. On the opening day of the Assembly, Starshov disarms a soldier aiming a Browning at the Socialist Revolutionary deputy Yefremov. The Assembly is adjourned after Zheleznyakov’s famous remark about the tired guard. The sailors brutally beat Leonid in the vestibule and throw him into the basement.

Civil war and family division

In his cell, Leonid meets former Lieutenant Colonel Korovin. Sometime later, Starshov is summoned for questioning by a Cheka officer. It turns out to be von Grosse. The baron reveals that he got Leonid out of prison in exchange for service in the Red Army. Grosse reminds him that the fate of the Oleksin family in Knyazhoy depends on Starshov’s loyalty. Leonid gives his word of honor as an officer and is appointed assistant to the chief of staff in the anarchist detachment of sailor Arbuzov.

The detachment is transferred to Narva. The anarchists find barrels of alcohol, and Arbuzov is forced to shoot to stop the drinking. In the very first battle, the sailors flee from the advancing Germans. Starshov and sailor Zhelvak remain at the machine gun and stop the attack. Leonid suffers a severe concussion from an exploding shell. Zhelvak carries him from the battlefield and reports that Arbuzov was trampled by his own fleeing thugs.

The village of Knyazhoye suffers from food detachments. The secretary of the cell, Zubtsov, compiles lists for grain confiscation. The peasants kill Zubtsov and lock the food detachment members in the cellar. General Oleksin persuades the peasants to confess to avoid the burning of the village. He sends Rufina Erastovna and her grandchildren to his brother, Ivan Ivanovich, at the Vysokoye estate. A punitive detachment arrives, taking the general and the priest, Father Longin. On the way to Smolensk, the guards execute Nikolai Ivanovich.

Varya remains in Smolensk without news of her husband. Vladimir Alekseyev evicts Kuchnov from his father’s house, occupying the mansion. Soon, guards come for Varya and take her to the basement of a former merchant’s house. Anna Vonvonlyarskaya is imprisoned with her. That night, the women are taken outside the fortress wall to be shot. Anna argues with the guard commander, demanding that they not be undressed in front of the men. Because of this interruption, the guard sends the women back to their cell. In the morning, Varya is freed by Fedos Minin, who has received a certificate stating that Starshov is serving as a Red Army commander. Anna Vonvonlyarskaya is killed. Varya moves in with her sister and begins working as a nurse in the hospital.

The fate of the survivors

After his treatment, Starshov returned to Moscow. At the dormitory, he met Nezvany, who had become commander of the Siberian Regiment. Nezvany appointed Leonid as his chief of staff. General Bonch-Bruyevich spoke at an officers’ meeting, calling for them to join the Red Army to defend the country. Starshov accepted.

The regiment is fighting against White units. During a lull, Lera Vologodova arrives with the password from the encircled cavalry brigade. The uninvited officer goes into neutral territory to negotiate with a White officer. The officer shoots Vikenty Ilyich with a Browning. Starshov rallies the regiment to attack and pursues the fleeing officer. It turns out to be Lekarev. Chekist Utkov kills Lekarev and brings Leonid his officer’s service record.

The uninvited soldier is discharged due to a serious shoulder wound. Starshov assumes command of the regiment. At the army group headquarters, he meets division commander Alexei and his wife, Lera. Varya receives a letter from her husband, sent through official inquiries. After the end of the Civil War, Starshov passes through prisons and Siberian garrisons. During the Great Patriotic War, he is wounded. Returning home, Leonid begins building his house. Before his death, he confesses to his youngest son that the Civil War was won by those who thirsted for destruction, and the builders had the hardest time of all.