The Nature of Things

In Kate Elizabeth Russell's debut novel, My Dark Vanessa , she knocks it out of the park in so many ways. The book is a clever telling of a Lolita-like story. In this case, the girl is Vanessa Wye, a naive, yet precocious, fifteen-year-old student at a boarding school in Maine. The role of Humbert is played by her magnetic and manipulative forty-two-year-old English teacher, Jacob Strane. The action kicks off in 2000 when Vanessa is a sophomore at the school. Vanessa is lonely and friendless. Her former best friend and roommate from the previous year and Vanessa had fallen out over the friend's relationship with a boy. Vanessa felt isolated by the relationship and had reacted badly. Now the two are not on speaking terms and Vanessa has not found anyone to fill that void. The predator, Jacob, recognizes her isolation and "cuts her from the herd," so to speak. Jacob begins by telling her how special she is, how intelligent and talented. Vanessa writes poetry and her tea...