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A review by amyvl93
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was my latest book club pick and I was both dubious and excited to pick this up as I remember it being The book a couple of years ago. <i>My Dark Vanessa</i> picks up in the present(ish) day when her former English teacher Jacob Strane is publicly accused of abuse in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement by one of his students, leaving her reflecting on the relationship she has with him, that she views as a consensual romance - and so we fall back into the past to her teenage years at her boarding school and her interactions with Strane.
As a reader, it is clear that this story is one of grooming and abuse - Strane's actions are by the book grooming, making Vanessa feel special, highlighting her special differences to other teenagers, giving her gifts and also making her question her version of events and experiences. But the novel asks us to really think about how this experience could feel for Vanessa, how what feels like obvious abuse could also be desired attention for a girl who feels lonely and separate from other students, and how disrupting that experience could unwittingly cast Vanessa in a role - as victim, as survivor, that she wants to resist - in part, because Strane has convinced her that she is not a victim, that she held and continues to hold the power in their relationship.
I found the time we spent close to Vanessa to be a really fascinating character study- her grappling with her past from the present, and her teenage self oscillating between desiring Strane's attention and also being disgusted by him; and her constant spotting of teenage girls, of viewing them with a mixture of desire, jealousy and also a need to protect them (again, all influenced by years of Strane's influence).
I did feel that there were places in this novel where the pacing really lagged, as we had mini lessons on Nabakov and Lolita as if the parallels weren't already quite obvious, or we went into detail that felt a bit like padding - after events see Vanessa in a different school, I could have probably done without pages describing her bunking off school, and then when she gets to college there's a second relationship with an English professor which I think is supposed to parallel the one with Strane but wasn't quite developed enough and left me feeling a bit confused as to what we were supposed to take away from this it felt a little like we were supposed to view Henry as 'as bad as' Strane for not telling Vanessa he had a wife which felt like a stretch . There's also some toying with how the media chased stories at the detriment of the women who were coming forward, but that feels quite secondary.
All in all though, <i>My Dark Vanessa</i> is a read which asks you to spend time with someone you will find challenging and is very much worth a read. I'll be interested to see what Russell produces next.
As a reader, it is clear that this story is one of grooming and abuse - Strane's actions are by the book grooming, making Vanessa feel special, highlighting her special differences to other teenagers, giving her gifts and also making her question her version of events and experiences. But the novel asks us to really think about how this experience could feel for Vanessa, how what feels like obvious abuse could also be desired attention for a girl who feels lonely and separate from other students, and how disrupting that experience could unwittingly cast Vanessa in a role - as victim, as survivor, that she wants to resist - in part, because Strane has convinced her that she is not a victim, that she held and continues to hold the power in their relationship.
I found the time we spent close to Vanessa to be a really fascinating character study- her grappling with her past from the present, and her teenage self oscillating between desiring Strane's attention and also being disgusted by him; and her constant spotting of teenage girls, of viewing them with a mixture of desire, jealousy and also a need to protect them (again, all influenced by years of Strane's influence).
I did feel that there were places in this novel where the pacing really lagged, as we had mini lessons on Nabakov and Lolita as if the parallels weren't already quite obvious, or we went into detail that felt a bit like padding - after events see Vanessa in a different school, I could have probably done without pages describing her bunking off school, and then when she gets to college there's a second relationship with an English professor which I think is supposed to parallel the one with Strane but wasn't quite developed enough and left me feeling a bit confused as to what we were supposed to take away from this
All in all though, <i>My Dark Vanessa</i> is a read which asks you to spend time with someone you will find challenging and is very much worth a read. I'll be interested to see what Russell produces next.