“Never talk to strangers,” M. A. Bulgakov tells us in a line from the title of the first chapter of “The Master and Margarita.” The main character of Irina Medvedeva’s story “The Golden Thread of Tao” violates this principle by meeting an outwardly unremarkable man who turns out to be the mentor of the secret Taoist clan Shou-Dao.

The plot of this work is the story of the main character’s training with this Teacher. During the course of the story, a large number of topics that concern many people are discussed: physical perfection, working with energy, the psychology of conflicts, ethics, morality, the ability to behave adequately in the most difficult situations, and the like.

The book can be recommended to all those who are interested in the theory and practice of multifaceted personality development.