'Day of the Angel' follows the fates and fortunes of three generations of the Ushakov family, members of the Russian emigre community living in Paris following the Revolution. Against the historical background of totalitarian terror, famine and war, depicted in harrowing detail as an epic struggle between the powers of good and evil, the family becomes swept up in a tide of events largely beyond their control.

Interspersed with extracts from relatives' diaries and letters, together with contemporary documentary accounts of the great famine, Dmitry Ushakov must find inner peace and a way to love amidst the chaos of his life.