The Story
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER?[An] exceedingly complex, inventive, resourceful examination of harm and power.? The New York Times Book Review, Editors? Choice?A lightning rod . . . brilliantly crafted.?The Washington PostRecommended by The New York Times ? USA Today ? Entertainment Weekly ? Marie Claire ? Elle ? Harpers Bazaar ? Newsweek ? New York Post ? Esquire ? Real Simple ? The Sunday Times ? The Guardian ? and more!Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet na?ve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, allconsuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteenyearold Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful fortytwoyearold 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 teenagerand who professed to worship only hermay 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. Thoughtprovoking 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 eradefining novel that brilliantly captures and reflects the shifting cultural mores transforming our relationships and society itself.
Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER?[An] exceedingly complex, inventive, resourceful examination of harm and power.? The New York Times Book Review, Editors? Choice?A lightning rod . . . brilliantly crafted.?The Washington PostRecommended by The New York Times ? USA Today ? Entertainment Weekly ? Marie Claire ? Elle ? Harpers Bazaar ? Newsweek ? New York Post ? Esquire ? Real Simple ? The Sunday Times ? The Guardian ? and more!Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet na?ve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, allconsuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteenyearold Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful fortytwoyearold 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 teenagerand who professed to worship only hermay 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. Thoughtprovoking 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 eradefining novel that brilliantly captures and reflects the shifting cultural mores transforming our relationships and society itself.
