Opisyvaia perezhivaniia devochki, otdannoĭ v Pavlovskiĭ institut v Peterburge, Charskaia pogru-zhaet chitatelia v atmosferu zakrytogo zhenskogo ucheb¬nogo zavedeniia, ne skryvaia i temnykh, poroiu tragicheskikh storon ikh zhizni. Pisatelʹnitsa razvenchivaet mif ob institutkakh kak o slabykh, kapriznykh, zhe¬mannykh sushchestvakh. Cherez tsepʹ konfliktov s rodite¬liami i sverstnitsami, cherez moralʹnuiu otsenku svoikh postupkov i slov ee geroinia prikhodit k ponimaniiu znacheniia khristianskoĭ liubvi i samootverzheniia.