My Dark Vanessa
Kate Elizabeth Russell, 2020
HarperCollins
384 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062941503
Summary
Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.
—2000—
Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful forty-two-year-old English teacher.
—2017—
Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self willingly engaged in this relationship, or redefine herself and the events of her past.
But how can Vanessa reject her first love, the man who fundamentally transformed her and has been a persistent presence in her life? Is it possible that the man she loved as a teenager—and who professed to worship only her—may be far different from what she has always believed?
Alternating between Vanessa’s present and her past, My Dark Vanessa juxtaposes memory and trauma with the breathless excitement of a teenage girl discovering the power her own body can wield.
Thought-provoking and impossible to put down, this is a masterful portrayal of troubled adolescence and its repercussions that raises vital questions about agency, consent, complicity, and victimhood.
Written with the haunting intimacy of The Girls and the creeping intensity of Room, My Dark Vanessa is an era-defining novel that brilliantly captures and reflects the shifting cultural mores transforming our relationships and society itself. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Kate Elizabeth Russell is originally from eastern Maine. She holds a PhD in creative writing from the University of Kansas and an MFA from Indiana University. My Dark Vanessa is her first novel. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
At the heart of this explosive and provocative debut is the relationship between a 15-year-old girl and her 42-year-old teacher.… [A] timely tale.
Newsweek
Perhaps the most anticipated first novel of the year, Russell's riveting, timeline-shifting saga of the relationship between a high-school student and her teacher…. [It] is sure to spark conversation (and debate).
Entertainment Weekly
[A] singular achievement—a masterpiece of tension and tone that will simultaneously grip you, horrify you, and move you…. With utmost sensitivity and vivid, gut-churning detail, Russell illuminates Vanessa’s struggle to see the story of her life for the tragedy it truly is. Before you start My Dark Vanessa, clear your schedule for the next few days—this… will utterly consume you.
Esquire
This isn't your cliché trope about a high school student-teacher relationship. Kate Elizabeth Russell brings forth all of the emotion and complexity.
Marie Claire
Likely to totally blow up your group chat (A "Must Read Book").
Bustle
(Starred review) [A]n introspective narrative that fully captures the complexity and necessity of the #MeToo movement in [a] powerful debut.… It also prompts readers to interrogate their own assumptions about victimhood, consent, and agency… a frighteningly sharp debut.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) A deeply relevant debut that the author has been writing since age 16, drawing on her own experiences, and the reading enlightens even as it chills. —Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., Grand Junction, CO
Library Journal
Empathetic, incendiary, and discussable.
Booklist
(Starred review) [A] rich psychological study of the aftermath of abuse…. What emerges is a devastating cultural portrait of enablement and the harm we allow young women to shoulder.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
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