My Dark Vanessa | Kate Elizabeth Russell

My Dark Vanessa is a dark and disturbing ambitious debut novel, dealing with the extremely sensitive topics of pedophilia, sexual abuse and predatory rape and is certainly not appropriate for young or vulnerable readers.

We see the repercussions 15-year-old student, Vanessa Wye, must deal with as an adult after she is groomed and then raped by her teacher Jacob Strane, a relationship that lasted a number of years. Vanessa does not allow herself to realize that the relationship was fact abusive, romanticising the actions of Jacob as love and I think the author did an amazing job taking the reader on the journey with Vanessa and her therapist as she comes to terms (somewhat) with what happened to her. The plot alternates between 2000 and 2017 which gives a well rounded perspective on what happened to Vanessa as a student and the lifelong implications she has and is suffering.

This book is definitely well-written , the language and scene setting is fantastic and the prose is tight and careful, intimate and descriptive. Her point of view and how it shifts over time is expertly managed and feels honest. There is an interesting and relentlessly claustrophobic quality to the prose. You want to escape the quiet horror of Vanessa’s story while also wanting to see how it all ends, if she is going to be okay. You want there to be a freeing moment of clean air without knowing if you will get it.

It all made for a very uncomfortable read and as well it should, it should make your skin crawl and the revulsion an horror of what this awful man subjected Vanessa too. The years of predation and sexual abuse, the rejection and mental anguish she suffers will make your heart break