Alexander Zholkovsky’s essay brings together the figures of three Russian writers: the еmigrе Nobel prize winner Ivan Bunin (1870–1953), the Soviet classic and Stalin prize winner Veniamin Kaverin (1902–1989), and the еmigrе poet, prosaist and literary scholar Lev Loseff (1927–2009). The essay starts by briefly summarizing its author’s recent studies of the major works of the first two (The Dark Alleys [Toymnye allei] and The Two Captains [Dva kapitana], respectively) and stating their nearly polar difference, despite having been written almost simultaneously (in the 1940s). The narrative then involves a chapter from a book of memoirs by the third writer, Lev Loseff, which focusses on his childhood (in the same 1940s) and in particular, on his reading of books about the Soviet North, including Kaverin’s The Two Captains. The chapter’s denouement features Kaverin himself in person and Loseff’s stunning insight into the workings of Kaverin’s literary craft. Inspired by Loseff’s insight, Zholkovsky proposes his own: an unexpected link between Kaverin and Bunin (spoiler free).