BOOK REVIEW MY DARK VANESSA BY KATE ELIZABETH RUSSELL

An era-defining novel about the relationship between a fifteen-year-old girl and her teacher

ALL HE DID WAS FALL IN LOVE WITH ME AND THE WORLD TURNED HIM INTO A MONSTER

Vanessa Wye was fifteen-years-old when she first had sex with her English teacher.

She is now thirty-two and in the storm of allegations against powerful men in 2017, the teacher, Jacob Strane, has just been accused of sexual abuse by another former student.

Vanessa is horrified by this news, because she is quite certain that the relationship she had with Strane wasn’t abuse. It was love. She’s sure of that.

Forced to rethink her past, to revisit everything that happened, Vanessa has to redefine the great love story of her life – her great sexual awakening – as rape. Now she must deal with the possibility that she might be a victim, and just one of many.

This has been on my radar for a long while and had heard a lot of praise about it. I was delighted to get my waterstones signed copy.

That was my day today to read this, and whilst i devoured it i also had to pause several times. This is not easy read,but its a important one.

Written from the view of vanessa in 2 timelines we get a clear insight into both a victim and a confused young woman.

There are bits that make for challenging reading but while this is fiction there are many real cases out there.

This is a powerful book that will get people talking and thinking. Horrific yet compelling , this is a fantastic debut.