Glory — Vladimir Nabokov

Glory is the wryly ironic story of Martin Edelweiss, a twenty-two-year-old Russian émigré of no account, who is in love with a girl who refuses to marry him.  

"The themes we associate with Nabokov -- the romance of emigres, sexual frustration, the nostalgia of youth -- shine again, sorrowfully or blithely, but always adding an illuminating dimension to what went before or what comes after." -Kirkus Reviews

Convinced that his life is about to be wasted and hoping to impress his love, Martin embarks on a "perilous, daredevil project"--an illegal attempt to re-enter the Soviet Union, from which he and his mother had fled in 1919. He succeeds--but at a terrible cost.