Satan arrives in Soviet Moscow with a retinue including a giant talking cat, and chaos ensues. Bulgakov worked on this novel for twelve years, never published it in his lifetime, and told his wife on his deathbed to preserve the manuscript. It appeared in censored form in 1966, complete only in 1973. The novel interweaves the Moscow satire with chapters about Pontius Pilate and Yeshua, the Master who wrote them, and Margarita who loves the Master. 'Manuscripts don't burn' is the famous line. This one survived everything.