Review: My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Title: My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Contemporary, Women’s Fiction
Length: 384 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

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.

Review:

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell is a poignant debut that is quite haunting.

In 2000, fifteen year old Vanessa Wye is in her second year at Browick boarding school. With she and her and former best friend on the outs, Vanessa is lonely and emotionally vulnerable. She is drawn to her forty-two year English teacher Jacob Strane  who makes her feel special with his praise and attention.  Before long Vanessa’s crush on Strane is all-consuming as he easily exploits her and her loneliness.  Vanessa is also quickly confused as their relationship turns physical and the line between consent and submission becomes blurred.

Even as their affair becomes public knowledge at Browick, Vanessa cannot bring herself to tell the truth about her relationship with Strane.  Her devotion to him never wavers until the #MeToo movement in 2017 brings an accusation against Strane into the news media. Vanessa is still quick to defend Strane but will she at last honestly explore her years’ long entanglement with a man who preys on his students?

In 2017, Vanessa is barely getting through life. She goes through her days in a haze of pot and alcohol as she remains forever stuck in the illicit relationship that still defines her. Vanessa’s relationship with men is dysfunctional and unsustainable as she confesses her darkest secrets to the men the easily move in and out her life. Once a promising writer, Vanessa works a dead end job and goes to therapy to deal with her father’s death.

But after Strane’s former student Taylor Birch goes public with her story about his abuse, Vanessa is forced to confront her still ongoing dysfunctional relationship with him. She is adamant that she is not a victim and that Strane loved her. But with several other former students coming forward with their stories of Strane’s abuse, Vanessa finally begins to open up to her therapist about what happened with her teacher. Will Vanessa ever recognize the years of victimization she endured at the hands of Strane? Or will she continue to romanticize their clearly inappropriate and psychologically devastating abusive relationship?

My Dark Vanessa is a dark yet powerfully compelling novel. Vanessa is a sympathetic woman but she is clearly unable to escape from her self-destructive tendencies. Strane is a completely vile and reprehensible predator who fully encapsulates men who use their positions of authority to find and groom their victims.

Although the subject matter is sometimes graphic and difficult to read, Kate Elizabeth Russell has penned an insightful, thought-provoking novel that is starkly disturbing. A captivating debut that is well-written with a topical, nuanced and layered storyline that will linger in readers’ minds long after the last page is turned.

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Filed under Contemporary, Kate Elizabeth Russell, My Dark Vanessa, Rated B, Review, William Morrow, Women's Fiction

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