📖 peek insideMy Dark Vanessa
by Kate Elizabeth Russell
In 2000, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with her magnetic and manipulative English teacher, Jacob Strane. Decades later, in the wake of the #MeToo movement, Strane is accused of sexual abuse by a former student. Vanessa must confront her past and decide if her first love was actually a calculated act of grooming. This provocative and devastating novel explores the complexity of memory, the trauma of exploitation, and the difficult journey toward reclaiming one's own narrative.
A popular book with millions of readers worldwide.
Notable Quotes
"I can’t lose the thing I’ve held onto for so long, you know?” My face twists up from the pain of pushing it out. “I just really need it to be a love story, you know? I really, really need it to be that.” “I know,” she says. “Because if it isn’t a love story, then what is it”? I look to her glassy eyes, her face of wide open empathy. “It’s my life,” I say. “This has been my whole life."
"People will risk everything for a little bit of something beautiful."
"The excuses we make for them are outrageous, but they’re nothing compared with the ones we make for ourselves."
You might also enjoy
Where the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Owens
A beautifully written coming-of-age story wrapped in a gripping murder mystery. Slow-paced, atmospheric, and deeply immersive.
Beartown
by Fredrik Backman
A devastating scandal tears a hockey-obsessed town apart. A slow, intense character study with incredibly high stakes.
Notes on an Execution
by Danya Kukafka
A serial killer awaits death row while the women in his life reflect. Beautifully slow, intense, and haunting.
I Have Some Questions for You
by Rebecca Makkai
A podcaster returns to her boarding school to investigate a past murder. A slow, immersive, and intense mystery.
Ask Again, Yes
by Mary Beth Keane
A tragic event links two neighboring families for decades. A beautifully slow, intense exploration of trauma and forgiveness.
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy
by Megan Bannen
A grumpy marshal and a lonely undertaker accidentally fall in love via anonymous letters. Funny, magical, and swoon-worthy.