A young woman, born and raised in France but with Russian ancestry, chooses to follow her dream of becoming an actor and applies to the Moscow State Theatre School, one of the most respected institutions for training in the performing arts. At the same time, Russia is going through a period of political tension after the re-election of Vladimir Putin, which has sparked large public demonstrations across the country. During her visit to Russia, she stays with her paternal grandfather, a man she doesn’t know well, who hosts her in his home. He remains secretive about his past, having lived through a time when speaking out against the government could be extremely dangerous. This fear of repression is something she notices in the lives of her friends’ grandparents and parents, influencing how they speak and live. Her perspective changes when she finds a photograph of her great-great-grandfather, Ivan Rebizov, a figure whose name had been erased from history. This discovery leads her to leave her acting career behind and begin a journey to uncover the truth about her family's past. Her search takes her through archives in Moscow and eventually to the remote Kolyma region, where she learns about Ivan Evdokimovitch Rebizov, a man who was a victim of the NKVD, the precursor to the KGB. His case file, numbered P-16742, was classified as secret until 1999 and marked as containing no dangerous content. The story of this search for truth is told in the novel The Odyssey of Knowledge by Jean-Jacques Bedu. The book explores the careful examination of historical myths and the drive to uncover the truth. It is not only about the woman’s family but also about the broader history of Russia, where fear and silence have been passed down through generations. The Odyssey of Knowledge is part of a series that looks at how human understanding has evolved and how myths continue to shape the way we see the world. Through the character’s journey, the novel highlights the personal and collective impact of historical erasure and the courage it takes to confront the past. It invites readers to consider how the stories we tell—or fail to tell—can influence the present and shape the future.