Mirror of Saint Germain by Boris Akunin. Short summary

5 seconds

A mystical mirror moves the characters from one era to another. Confronted in the corridor of time, they change bodies. But not their souls.

1 minute

On New Year’s Eve, with the sixth beat of the chimes, the lives of two men undergo fantastic metamorphosis. «New Russian» Vovan and the manager of the credit institution Konstantin Tomsky reincarnate into each other.

Time reversal takes place. Vovan moves from 2001 to 1901, Tomsky, respectively, on the contrary. All the fault mystical mirror alchemist Saint-Germain.

Enterprising Vovan quickly finds his bearings in the new environment. He sets up a lucrative business, using the usual means of influencing the authorities and the police. In passing he solves the problem of the swindler Tomsky, who has been criminally prosecuted.

Konstantin Lvovich in the twenty-first century tries to cultivate his subordinates. He clashes with his rivals by means of duels, which earns him the great respect of his subordinates.

Both want to go back to their own time. But at a sacred moment, standing by the magic mirror, wrong date. And miss by 100 years.