A love for the novels of Russian author Lev, helps young student Zoya through a difficult time at a New Jersey boarding school. When Lev comes to teach there Zoya becomes infatuated with him. But Lev is a manipulative man and sees his chance to get rid of his dominant wife. Not really a thriller, but a well-constructed story of psychological suspense, loosely based on the life of Nabokov, and with a twist at the end I didn't see coming.