The novel deals with the life of the
Cossacks living in the
Don River valley during the early 20th century, starting around 1912, just prior to
World War I. The plot revolves around the Melekhov family of
Tatarsk, who are descendants of a Cossack who, to the horror of many, took a
Turkish captive as a wife during the
Crimean War. She is accused of
witchcraft by Melekhov's superstitious neighbors, who attempt to kill her but are fought off by her husband. Their descendants, the son and grandsons, who are the protagonists of the story, are therefore often nicknamed "Turks". Nevertheless, they command a high level of respect among people in Tatarsk. The second eldest son, Grigory Panteleevich Melekhov, is a promising young soldier who falls in love with Aksinia, the wife of Stepan Astakhov, a family friend. Stepan regularly beats her and there is no love between them. Grigory and Aksinia's romance and
elopement raise a feud between her husband and his family. The outcome of this romance is the focus of the plot as well as the impending World and Civil Wars which draw the best young Cossack men into what will be two of Russia's bloodiest wars. The action moves to the
Austro-Hungarian front, where Grigory ends up saving Stepan's life, but that doesn't end the feud. Grigory, at his father's insistence, takes a wife, Natalya, but still loves Aksinia. Grigory takes part in the
Civil War, changing sides four times (Red to White to Red to White to indifferent). Many of his friends and relatives are killed in action or executed by both the
Reds and
Whites. Natalya dies after a failed amateur abortion, leaving Grigory with two small children who are eventually cared for by Aksinia. This does not prevent Grigory and Aksinia from trying a final escape alone together, but she is killed by a stray bullet during a fight with Red troops. Grief-stricken, Grigory buries her and returns home, with his prospects unclear. The book deals not only with the struggles and suffering of the
Cossacks but also the landscape itself, which is vividly brought to life. There are also many
folk songs referenced throughout the novel.
And Quiet Flows the Don grew out of an earlier, unpublished work, the
Donshina:I began the novel by describing the event of the
Kornilov putsch in 1917. Then it became clear that this putsch, and more importantly, the role of the Cossacks in these events, would not be understood without a Cossack prehistory, and so I began with the description of the life of the Don Cossacks just before the beginning of World War I. (quote from
M.A. Sholokhov: Seminarii, (1962) by F.A. Abramovic and V.V. Gura, quoted in
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, by L.L. Litus.) Protagonist Grigory Melekhov is reportedly based on two Cossacks from
Veshenskaya, Pavel Nazarovich Kudinov and Kharlampii Vasilyevich Yermakov, who were key figures in the
anti-Bolshevist struggle of the upper Don. ==Literary significance, criticism, and accusations of plagiarism==