{"id":76583,"date":"2020-09-09T06:00:29","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T11:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/?p=76583"},"modified":"2020-09-08T22:05:01","modified_gmt":"2020-09-09T03:05:01","slug":"a-chilling-thriller-with-immense-reality-my-dark-vanessa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/76583\/culture\/a-chilling-thriller-with-immense-reality-my-dark-vanessa\/","title":{"rendered":"A Chilling Thriller with Immense Reality: “My Dark Vanessa”"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the opening pages of Kate Elizabeth Russell\u2019s debut novel, \u201cMy Dark Vanessa,\u201d the novel\u2019s narrator, Vanessa Wye, reads three Facebook comments: \u201cYou\u2019re so strong,\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re so brave\u201d and \u201cWhat kind of monster could do that to a child?\u201d These three comments permeate throughout the novel as readers watch 15-year-old Vanessa be groomed and sexually abused by her 42-year-old teacher, Jacob Strane.<\/span><\/p>\n

Juxtaposing Vanessa\u2019s present struggle of grappling with her trauma and her childhood with her first-person narration of these heinous acts, \u201cMy Dark Vanessa\u201d is a book written about the difficulty survivors of sexual assault face in coping with their experiences. In 2017, when Vanessa\u2019s former classmate accuses Strane of sexual misconduct, Vanessa begins to unravel what happened to her during her childhood and, in the process, revisits these traumatic memories in vivid prose.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vanessa explicitly describes Strane\u2019s abuse in detail, producing controversy over the novel\u2019s exceedingly graphic depictions of rape and sexual assault. Originally chosen as one of Oprah\u2019s Book Club books, the novel was removed from the coveted list.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite this controversy, Russell\u2019s novel became a New York Times bestseller. Much of this may be attributed to the author\u2019s command of language, which catches the reader\u2019s attention instantaneously by bringing them into Vanessa\u2019s mind.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While enthralling, Russell\u2019s writing is self-consciously aware of its function in the novel, and \u2014 at specific points \u2014 turns Vanessa\u2019s agony into a discomforting reading experience that makes the reader feel as if they are Vanessa. This technique is powerful; however, it occasionally makes the prose overwhelming and violating, as if many of Strane\u2019s egregious acts are happening to the reader.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Much of this invasive reading experience separates \u201cMy Dark Vanessa\u201d from other novels published in response to the #MeToo movement. While novels like Susan Choi\u2019s \u201cTrust Exercise\u201d also dazzled critiques with its witty prose, \u201cMy Dark Vanessa\u201d compels the reader to sympathize with victims of sexual assault in a way that is personal and revealing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through vivid descriptions of rape, sexual assault and the proceeding flood of anguish and confusion, Russell is able to condense the experience of Vanessa\u2019s trauma into a learning experience for the reader. Moreover, unlike many novels before it, \u201cMy Dark Vanessa\u201d is unapologetically a novel written with a distinct voice that sympathizes with victims and condemns critiques of sexual assault survivors.<\/span><\/p>\n

While an important novel for its narrative voice and unapologetic honesty, it should be noted that \u201cMy Dark Vanessa\u201d is possibly a triggering novel to many readers. However, Russell aligns her carefully worded prose with survivors, outright condemning critiques of them \u2014 even from the first page.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those opening three comments, \u201cYou\u2019re so strong,\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re so brave\u201d and \u201cWhat kind of monster could do that to a child?\u201d reappear in vastly different ways as readers watch Vanessa understand what happened to her. Russell reinforces the idea that being \u201cstrong\u201d or \u201cbrave\u201d is not always conducive to healing from these experiences. Instead, readers should approach Vanessa\u2019s situation with empathy and work to support victims.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the opening pages of Kate Elizabeth Russell\u2019s debut novel, \u201cMy Dark Vanessa,\u201d the novel\u2019s narrator, Vanessa Wye, reads three Facebook comments: \u201cYou\u2019re so strong,\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re so brave\u201d and \u201cWhat kind of monster could do that to a child?\u201d These three comments permeate throughout the novel as readers watch 15-year-old Vanessa be groomed and sexually…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,7480],"tags":[7847,7438,7846,7483],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76583"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76583"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76661,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76583\/revisions\/76661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fordhamram.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}