The extensive novel by one of the most important authors of contemporary Ukrainian fiction revolves around the theme of memory, the relationship between memory and forgetting, about the incompleteness and constant changeability of human personalities. The narrative of the novel is made up of a bizarre mosaic. repressed and distorted memories that are the result of the interpretation of the past and the search for one's own identity.

The search for the legendary lake Amadoka, on whose imaginary shores the heroes live, represents for them the living water of memory and the dead water of oblivion.

It is the largest lake in Europe located on the territory of modern Ukraine, which was first mentioned by Herodotus in his History, then it appeared on the maps of various cartographers for hundreds of years, until it suddenly disappeared without a trace. In the book, it becomes a magnificent metaphor for Ukraine, its present, history and especially the diversity of the population.