The Selmenian family is a Jewish extended family whose traditional shtetl sentimentality is thrown into disarray by the upheavals of the Russian Revolution and the new Soviet order. The specter of Bolshevism creeps into their town and refuses to leave: Soviet power plus electrification. Four generations of Selmenians, all with black hair and bony builds, featuring broad, low foreheads, fleshy noses, and dimples in their cheeks, live on the estate of their long-deceased ancestor Selmele. In this story of a family that must navigate the conflict between rejecting modernization and believing in progress, the dynastic narratives of the Old Testament and the lighthearted yet melancholic attitude of Hasidic traditions endure, while at the same time, the literary doctrine of Socialist Realism takes hold.