Love of literacy: book of the week

Corner Brook librarian recommends ... My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Regular Reviews is a biweekly feature where The West Coast Wire checks in with Corner Brook librarian Cathy Regular for her latest book recommendation.

THEN: It’s the year 2000 and Vanessa is a bright, ambitious 15-year-old girl attending boarding school where she begins a sexual relationship with her 42-year-old English teacher, Mr. Strane.

NOW: It’s 2017 and Vanessa is a 32-year-old woman working a dead-end job when she learns Strane has been accused of sexually abusing another former student.

The story alternates between Vanessa’s past and present. As a reader, we get to see what the 15-year-old can’t — the manipulation, the grooming, the gaslighting, the abuse of power. And, while Strane is apparently aware that what he’s doing is wrong, he tells Vanessa he can’t help himself. He tells her she’s just too irresistible. He tells her from the very beginning, “I’m going to ruin you.” Vanessa believes this is love. Their relationship lasts until she is 21 — too old for him to be attracted to anymore.

Then there are the chapters in which Vanessa is a grown woman. Here we watch her learn that she wasn’t the only student who received attention from Mr. Strane. We watch her refuse to believe that Strane could have had eyes for any girl but her. We see how quick Vanessa is to always defend him and their relationship and to minimize what happened between Strane and the other girls. We follow along with bated breath hoping against hope that Vanessa will finally understand and acknowledge that she is a victim of abuse.

Be warned, this book deals with dark subject matter.

And it’s scary. So scary that I wouldn’t recommend it to just anyone. But it’s not dark and scary in the obvious horrorgenre type of way. It’s dark because an adult man is abusing a teenage girl. It’s scary because the girl, even after she’s an adult, doesn’t believe she was abused — she even adamantly denies it again and again. It’s unsettling. And it’s infuriating. It’s a difficult read but it’s an important one. Many times throughout the book I wanted to shake Vanessa by her shoulders and scream “THIS ISN’T LOVE!” Then, I wanted to hug her tight and tell her everything would be OK.

It’s a complex story that will likely generate a lot of uncomfortable emotions. Nothing is black and white. Everything is grey. Life is messy. But the bottom line is this: children cannot consent.

Cathy Regular

Library Supervisor

Corner Brook Public Library Twitter: @cathyregular