My Dark Vanessa is a debut novel by Kate Elizabeth Russell that she worked on for eighteen years. The novel is set in Maine, where she grew up, and another famous Maine resident, Stephen King calls the book “a hard story to read and a harder one to put down… A well-constructed package of dynamite.” Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) calls it “[a]n absolute must-read.” I say what they say. The protagonist, Vanessa, enters into a sexual and romantic relationship with her male English teacher at age fourteen. The relationship continues into her thirties. The author’s preface takes great pains to say this is purely fiction. Without doubting that representation, this is a no-holds barred account of a complicated, warped, and intense relationship between a young girl and an older man, both flawed human beings, that speaks on many levels. I see a potential blockbuster movie. Reviewers don’t seem to know what to do with this book because it doesn’t quite pigeon-hole completely into political correctness. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-elizabeth-russell/my-dark-vanessa-russell/