Sofia Petrovna is Lydia Chukovskaya s fictional account of the Great Purge. Sofia is a Soviet Everywoman a doctor s widow who works as a typist in a Leningrad publishing house. When her beloved son is caught up in the maelstrom of the purge she joins the long lines of women outside the prosecutor s office hoping against hope for good news. Confronted with a world that makes no moral sense Sofia goes mad a madness which manifests itself in delusions little different from the lies those around her tell every day to protect themselves. Sofia Petrovna offers a rare and vital record of Stalin s Great Purges.