Hello dear Readers,
My book review of My Dark Vanessa: A Novel by Kate Elizabeth Russell.
Title: My Dark Vanessa: A Novel
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Genre: Psychological Fiction
Author: Kate Elizabeth Russell
Publisher: William Morrow
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: March 10, 2020
Language: English
Book Description
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.
My Thoughts
My Dark Vanessa is a work of fiction. Even the author clarifies is not her personal story, nor anybody else's. However, it read like non-fiction to me. Could be because the subject on this book is a very real situation, which happens in real life, or because the excellent writing . Either way, personally, I just loved it read that way because I wanted her story, Vanessa's story to feel as much real, valid.
Needless to say, I loved this book. It is indeed a very sensitive subject, and it was hard to read at times, but I think the book had the intended effect, at least on me, which has to really listen to this story, and to see Vanessa, and what she goes through.
Vanessa is one of the most vulnerable characters I have ever encountered in a book. She is not afraid of her truth, she is not afraid of admitting what happened and let others know, she even takes responsibility, which I don't believe was all her fault, but at the end, she just wanted her story to be real because like most humans, she wanted to feel loved and understood, and get validation on her feelings, even if that meant to blame herself for how things turned out.
Vanessa, the teenager, the student, and Jacob, the grown-up adult, her teacher, get involved in a romantic relationship. Through the pages, we see how their relationship starts, develops, and ends. However, I don't think it really ended. Deep inside I believe, at least for Vanessa, she always hoped it was going to turn out the way she always wanted, a real love story, for Jacob, for everybody else in the world. Other women come forward and accuse Jacob of sexual misconduct, and even though Vanessa never really felt like a victim, some of these women tried to get her to tell her story, to see that what she went through was the same abuse they experienced, that Vanessa was obligated to share what happened for the sake of her stories to be true.
I also loved how the story alternates between the past and the present. It was a fast-paced read, but at the same time you get to experience and breath every word of it.
My Dark Vanessa, fiction, non-fiction, is a very important and real story.
Wendy
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