Boris Akunin has published a memoir for his wife, Erika. It ends with the plan they made to die together.

Erika Chkhartishvili, who edited the works of Boris Akunin and was his wife for more than 40 years, passed away in mid-August. Akunin later published a 105-page memoir of his late wife, which is available for free on the Babook Book Club website. The final chapters of the memoir detail the plan the couple made to die together if one of them faced a terminal illness first.

In December 2022, Akunin fell seriously ill after being misdiagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Erika, who had been battling cancer for 15 months, cared for him throughout the ordeal. She even suggested that once she was left alone, she would have something entertaining and life-affirming to read every morning.

Akunin was terrified not of dying, but of what would happen to Erika when she was left to cope with life without him. He wrote a letter to her, stating that if she were to die first, his existence would turn into anguish and misery, and he might not be able to write books anymore. Erika later told him that she had contemplated walking on an empty beach and screaming on several nights.

In the end, they decided to die together, creating a plan that would allow them to leave calmly and without regrets, even if it meant doing so in their early 70s. This concept helped to eliminate their remaining fear and allowed them to enjoy the time they had left together.