When a virulent flu epidemic sweeps through Moscow, killing hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, Anya and her husband, Sergey, decide to flee to a lake in the far north of Russia where they hope to sit out the disaster.

But as the wave of infection expands from the capital, they encounter obstacles, hazards, and aggression, just barely escaping from death as they try to navigate through a harsh Russian winter, with diminishing supplies of petrol and food. And their troubles multiply as Sergey agrees to takes on unwelcome guests and Anya struggles with feelings of hostility and jealousy. Inspired by a real-life flu epidemic in Moscow, To the Lake was a number one bestseller in Russia, and it has since appeared in a dozen languages and been adapted into a Netflix TV series.