The Russian Girl by Kingsley Amis

When the lives of an English literary critic and a beautiful young Russian poet collide, passion, deception, and satire ensue. Richard Vaisey’s quiet, ordered existence unravels when Anna Danilova — alluring, mysterious, and possibly fraudulent — enters his London circle. As literary pretensions mix with romantic folly, Amis paints a wickedly sharp portrait of academia, desire, and the illusions people create to justify love and ambition. Both darkly funny and emotionally piercing, this is Kingsley Amis at his most mischievous and perceptive.