Author- Kate Elizabeth Russell
Series- N/A
Published- 2020
Page Count-369 pages
Publishing House- 4th Estate
Rating- 4/5 stars
About the Author
I’m a writer living in Madison, Wisconsin. My debut novel, My Dark Vanessa, is forthcoming from William Morrow (US), 4th Estate (UK), and will be translated into over twenty languages.
Originally from eastern Maine, I earned an MFA from Indiana University and a PhD from the University of Kansas.
you can find me on twitter @GinnyMcCoo
and on instagram @kateelizabethrussell
and on instagram @kateelizabethrussell
Taken from Kate's website.
Plot
An era-defining novel about the relationship between a fifteen-year-old girl and her teacher
ALL HE DID WAS FALL IN LOVE WITH ME AND THE WORLD TURNED HIM INTO A MONSTER
Vanessa Wye was fifteen years old when she first had sex with her English teacher. She is now thirty-two and in the storm of allegations against powerful men in 2017, the teacher, Jacob Strane, has just been accused of sexual abuse by another former student. Vanessa is horrified by this news, because she is quite certain that the relationship she had with Strane wasn't abuse. It was love. She's sure of that. Forced to rethink her past, to revisit everything that happened, Vanessa has to redefine the great love story of her life – her great sexual awakening – as rape. Now she must deal with the possibility that she might be a victim, and just one of many. Nuanced, uncomfortable, bold and powerful, and as riveting as it is disturbing, My Dark Vanessa goes straight to the heart of some of the most complex issues our age is grappling with.
Taken from Goodreads.
Opinions
I picked this book up after seeing emmmabooks rave about it. I've been wanting to read more modern literature and when I saw this on sale for £7 at my local Tesco's, I just had to get it. I went into it expecting more of a psychological element and ended up being surprised by what I read.
I've been in a bit of reading slump in 2020, due to various reasons, so when I ended up flying through this one and reading it in three days, I was very happy. Normally, I cannot stand first person perspective (for some reason), and when I found out this one was in first person, I was a bit apprehensive. However, I didn't mind it for once and found it easier to read because it was written in the first person perspective. It meant you could connect more with Vanessa as a character.
I really enjoyed the jumping back and forth between Vanessa's two timelines. It was an interesting comparison into how she felt at the time and how she'd repressed her memories of her relationship with Strane. I have to admit that after a while, the sex scenes between her and Strane became a bit repetitive and gratuitous. I think less would have had a more powerful impact.
Something I felt would have made this a more powerful novel is that if it had been slightly shorter. As I mentioned above, if there had been less sex scenes, it would have had more of an impact. I also didn't care for the storyline with her and Henry, it felt a bit pointless. It felt as though it was trying to repeat the storyline with Strane.
I have a feeling that this would make an amazing miniseries, if the right creative team got behind it. It's one I'd really like to see adapted for the screen. Overall, I found My Dark Vanessa to be a powerful and poignant book. I would like to read more from Kate Elizabeth Russell and to read more modern lit tackling heavier topics such as the MeToo movement.
Carenza :) x
