Both a coming-of-age adventure of time spent in search of the romantic Russia the author had dreamed about and a tale of eye-opening amazement as she discovers and gets caught up in the new, anarchic Russia emerging from its Soviet constraints. At its heart is the story of caviar: beluga, the rarest type of sturgeon harvested from the Caspian Sea, is now an endangered species, and no one knows how - or wants - to stop the plunder. People kill for this most prized of foods, and Vanora Bennett sets out to find out why.