V etot sbornik voshli povesti i rasskazy raznykh periodov. I venchayut yego tri samykh pronzitel'nykh proizvedeniya Kuprina o lyubvi, kotoraya «sil'neye, chem smert', i strely yeye – strely ognennyye».Zavorazhivayushchaya, tragicheskaya fantaziya «Sulamif'», rasskazyvayushchaya o prekrasnoy i chistoy lyubvi tsarya Solomona i devushki Sulamif'. «Granatovyy braslet» – pechal'naya povest' o bezvozvratno poteryannoy lyubvi, razveyannoy po vetru melodiyey sonaty Betkhovena. I, nakonets, «Olesya» – istoriya lyubvi barskogo syna i zhivushchey v lesu devushki-koldun'i Olesi, kotoroy ne suzhdeno bylo zavershit'sya schastlivym kontsom – to li temnyye sily, to li predrassudki, to li prosto sud'ba razluchili vlyublennykh navsegda.
