In 1963, when the atmosphere of the Hrushchiovian „thaw” was passing through a rapid process of oblivion, in Chisinau, Severograd, a novel written by N. Costenco, appears. It presented life in a Siberian gulag in somewhat favorable light. While reading it, the reader is still somehow amazed at Costea Moldovanu’s optimism in the entourage of the Siberian exile, he is amazed at Costea’s delight in the Nordic landscape, anyhow he understands it, however, it remains a state of exile, he is astonished at the celebration pathos of the daily work, which, in the minds of deportees, doesn’t seem to have such qualities. The reader is also annoyed at the fact that the novel is accompanied by a review entitled in an intriguing manner The Joy of Work, signed by the brave and feared critic, Vasile Coroban. Based on the analyses of confessions offered by the author and his wife, on hermeneutic methods, on archival materials the author of the article proves that Severograd is not a controversial novel, as it seems, but a deeply realistic one.