'I just really need this to be a love story. You know? I really, really need this. Because if it's not a love story, then what is?'
'My Dark Vanessa' is the debut novel by Kate Elizabeth Russell, a book that has rightly been called the 'Lolita' of the #MeToo era. Lucky are those who have passed the test of first love without serious consequences. But what to do if first love is terrible and dark, if it has plowed and warped a young soul so much that there is no way out of this darkness?
The book tells the story of a romance between a student and a teacher, a love that is not imaginary and not platonic. Which predictably ended badly. And the worst thing is not even that what happened is unacceptable, but that the victim, even after years, cannot comprehend the full horror to which she was subjected and continues to invent excuses for the terrible plot of her youth.
Stephen King assessed this book as follows: 'Sometimes it will be very painful, but you will not stop 'You can.'
Kate Elizabeth Russell (born 1984) grew up in Maine and earned a PhD from Indiana University and an MFA from the University of Kansas. She worked on her debut book, My Dark Vanessa, for 18 years, starting in high school. Published in March 2020, the novel instantly became a worldwide bestseller and has been translated into 35 languages. Kate lives in Portland, Oregon.