My Dark Vanessa

Engrossing the reader in the psychological dynamics of a bright but innocent adolescent girl's relationship with her seductive and cunning instructor, this captivating book is the explosive debut of a remarkable new author.

In 2000. Bright, aspirational, and longing for maturity, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye gets caught up in a romantic relationship with her enchanting and cunning forty-two-year-old English teacher, Jacob Strane.

2017. There's going to be an accounting in the midst of the growing tide of accusations against wealthy men. After learning that a previous student has accused Strane of sexual assault, Vanessa is forced to make the difficult decision to either redefine herself and her past experiences or stay quiet and steadfast in her view that her adolescent self deliberately entered into this relationship. But how can Vanessa turn her back on the guy who changed her life so drastically and has been in her life for so long? Could it be that the guy she adored in her adolescent years—and who claimed to cherish her alone—may not be at all who she has always thought him to be?

My Dark Vanessa, which switches back and forth between Vanessa's history and present, mixes pain and recollections with the ecstatic anticipation of a young girl learning the power of her own body. This is a brilliant representation of difficult adolescence and its ramifications that raises important issues about agency, consent, complicity, and victims. It is thought-provoking and hard to put down. Written with the eerie intimacy of The Girls and the spooky intensity of Room, My Dark Vanessa is a story that defines a historical period and masterfully depicts the changing social mores that are changing society and our relationships.