The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

My Dark Vanessa

March 18, 2020

dark

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Published by William Morrow
Publication date: March 10, 2020
Genres: Book Clubs, Contemporary, Debut, Fiction, Literary
four-half-stars
Your Local Book Store, Amazon

Fiction has always been known for expanding on fact so it’s not surprising that the fiction of the last four years, with all the political and social upheaval, has gotten more and more outsized. Author Kate Russell joins the fray with, My Dark Vanessa, her debut novel about a young woman who has an ongoing relationship with a man that began when she was 15 and he was 42. Not surprisingly, he was her teacher. I was hesitant about the novel because even before #MeToo fictional, inappropriate relationships between older teachers and younger students abounded. It’s a subject that often veers into the sensationalistic so I wasn’t sure how this novel would be different or why I needed to read it.

Where Russell breaks from the pack is with Vanessa. As the novel begins in 2017 she is an adult, working as a concierge at a hotel. She’s been contacted by the teacher, Jacob Strane, because he’s being investigated for the sexual harassment of another student. The twist? They’ve already been down this path in 2000, when he was reported for a suspected relationship with her. At that time, she publicly protected him and the case was dropped. Still, she’s part of the school’s historical record for Strane and he fears she’ll change her mind. She reassures him that their relationship has always been consensual and she’ll take no part in any case against him. This is the perspective that Russell teases out, slowly and with care.

This is the perspective that drives My Dark Vanessa and Russell teases it out, slowly and with care. One of the key ways she does this is by flipping between past and present.  Chapters move between 2000 when Vanessa was a bright, but socially awkward teenager to 2017 when, although she’s an adult, her life is in many ways stunted. Her therapist forces her to fill in a calendar with the most rudimentary chores, yet she is still unable to accomplish the majority of tasks. These scenes of the present juxtaposed against the past paint a picture that shimmers with contradictions. Getting a clear handle on what happened is not easy.

This is an inflammatory topic that for some should not be explored, but Russell peels back the layers of Vanessa’s psyche to get to the truth of her experience. She takes a potentially one-note story and expands it into dimensions not previously considered. Which is not to say she romanticizes anything. It is seamy and the truth will out, but within the confines of fiction My Dark Vanessa is a masterful exploration of an unpalatable subject.

 

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I get a small commission (at no cost to you).

 

 

four-half-stars

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • Same Genre
  • 4.5 Star Books
  • By Kate Elizabeth Russell
hillbilly
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
girls
The Girls from Corona del Mar
american
American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover Muslim FBI Agent
prayer
A Prayer for Travelers
good
The Good People: A Novel
girl
Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka
razorblade
Razorblade Tears
wallis
The Woman Before Wallis: A Novel
dear lucy
Dear Lucy: A Novel
Gone Girl
Gone Girl
september
September Reading Wrap-Up
good rich
Good Rich People: A Novel
achilles
The Song of Achilles
let me be frank
Let Me Be Frank With You
essie
The Book of Essie: A Novel
five best
Five Best Debuts of 2020

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, debut, literary

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Indiebound and Amazon. If you click on a link that takes you to any of these sites and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2023

Copyright © 2023 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in