My Dark Vanessa

Kate Elizabeth Russell is originally from eastern Maine. She holds a PhD in creative writing from the University of Kansas and an MFA from Indiana University. My Dark Vanessa is her first novel.

‘A hard story to read and a harder one to put down … a package of dynamite’ Stephen King‘The book that scared Weinstein’ Metro‘Compulsive. I burned through the first half in such a fever that I lost sleep, I missed meals … a lightning rod’ Washington Post‘A brilliant and stunning debut … utterly truth-rattling, humane in its clarity and chilling in its resonance. An absolute must-read’ Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl‘A skilled, terrifying depiction of grooming … we should all read it’ Marian Keyes‘Once in a while, a book comes along that consumes your waking hours, unmoors you from your lived reality, grips the very core of you and doesn’t let go. My Dark Vanessa is that book’ Esquire‘Clever, unsettling … this novel stands out for its elusiveness, its exceedingly complex, inventive, resourceful examination of harm and power’ New Yorker‘The #MeToo novel that’s as gripping as any thriller’ Grazia‘Gripping and unsettling… a bracingly uncompromising book. It will doubtless be devoured with an ache of recognition by large numbers of women. But it really ought to be read by men’ Economist‘Superb … a book that asks what we have lost and gained in an era that has revolutionised the way we think about sex and power’ Observer‘Addictively disturbing’ Red Magazine