An instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 DYLAN THOMAS AWARD

'A package of dynamite' Stephen King

‘Powerful, compulsive, brilliant’ Marian Keyes

An era-defining novel about the relationship between a fifteen-year-old girl and her teacher

ALL HE DID WAS FALL IN LOVE WITH ME AND THE WORLD TURNED HIM INTO A MONSTER

Vanessa Wye was fifteen-years-old when she first had sex with her English teacher.

She is now thirty-two and in the storm of allegations against powerful men in 2017, the teacher, Jacob Strane, has just been accused of sexual abuse by another former student.

Vanessa is horrified by this news, because she is quite certain that the relationship she had with Strane wasn't abuse. It was love. She's sure of that.

Forced to rethink her past, to revisit everything that happened, Vanessa has to redefine the great love story of her life – her great sexual awakening – as rape. Now she must deal with the possibility that she might be a victim, and just one of many.

Nuanced, uncomfortable, bold and powerful, My Dark Vanessa goes straight to the heart of some of the most complex issues of our age.

My Dark Vanessa, a literary fiction by Sunday Times bestselling author Kate Elizabeth Russell, is a top-rated book that explores the uncomfortable realities of love and abuse. This bold and powerful narrative compels readers to question their understanding of relationships and victimhood.

For fans of Hanya Yanagihara (The People in the Trees), Mona Awad (Bunny), Riley Sager (The Only One Left), Ottessa Moshfegh (Death in Her Hands), and Donna Tartt (The Goldfinch).

My Dark Vanessa: The SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AS SEEN ON TIKTOK

My Dark Vanessa: The SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AS SEEN ON TIKTOK