Rybakov's semi-autobiographical "Children of the Arbat" is set in 1934 and portrays a group of young people living on the street at the start of Stalin's terror. When it was finally published, during ‘glasnost', the library waiting lists ran into thousands. If you go through the archway next to the plaque, you can still get a sense of the area as Rybakov described it at the start of the novel: "low, arched, iron-clad passageways" linking "deep, dark courtyards", although someone has painted one of the passageways a cheerful pink.
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