My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
My Dark Vanessa is Kate Elizabeth Russell’s debut novel, a fictional story where a fifteen-year-old Vanessa enters into a relationship with her much older teacher. The book has two different timelines, the present-day timeline and a back-in-the-day timeline.
My Dark Vanessa perfectly captures the complex feelings regarding the relationship without being preachy. It really explains why anyone would enter into and continue an unhealthy relationship. First, Vanessa goes off to an elite boarding school. Talk about a stressful situation! She is away from her family, her home, everything that is familiar to her. She leaves her school and all of her friends behind. No one at boarding school even seems to notice her. Vanessa is completely isolated and alone.
In walks this teacher. He is whispering literature into her ear and telling her how special and unique she is.
Another complexity hitting Vanessa is nostalgia. How many times do we think fondly of the past? If you go to Disney World, you might think, “Wow! That was the happiest day of my life!” But in reality, you stand in line for hours with the sun beating down on you then find yourself in a sudden downpour with your socks filled with water, squelching with every step you take, and the socks never drying because of the humidity. Although you think it is the “happiest day of your life,” you were actually exhausted and ready for the day to be over. The rose-tinted glasses come in handy when looking at the past!
The survivors in this book process their experiences differently. Not all survivors feel that they are victims, and not everyone wants to come forward to share their story. Moreover, some survivors don’t want to be associated with their past anymore, and this book is a great reminder that some may not want to talk about their experience or aren’t ready to go there.
This book mentions Lolita, a novel by Vladimir Nabokova, a bunch of times and rightfully so. In Lolita, the author follows the perspective of the older gentleman. However, in My Dark Vanessa, the reader gets a different perspective, the perspective of the young girl.
In conclusion, although the subject matter is really tough, My Dark Vanessa is a riveting story about a complex relationship. This is a great book for fans of Lolita or The Glass Castle.
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