Kate Elizabeth Russell
Kate Elizabeth Russell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1984 (age 40–41) |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | John Bapst Memorial High School University of Maine at Farmington (BFA) Indiana University (MFA) University of Kansas (PhD) |
| Notable works |
|
Kate Elizabeth Russell (born 1984) is an American author. Her debut novel, My Dark Vanessa, was published in 2020 and became a national bestseller.
Biography
Russell was raised in the town of Clifton, Maine, attending John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Maine.[1][2] She subsequently studied as an undergraduate at the University of Maine at Farmington, earning a B.F.A. in creative writing in 2006,[3] and went on to earn an M.F.A. from Indiana University[4] and a Ph.D. in creative writing from the University of Kansas.[5]
My Dark Vanessa
Russell's first novel offers a fictional account of a traumatic sexual relationship between its protagonist, Vanessa Wye, and Jacob Strane. Wye is 15 years old and a lonely student at boarding school when Strane, her 42-year-old English teacher, begins grooming her for a sexual relationship which will come to cast an appalling shadow over her life. The novel is a first-person narrative, jumping forward and backward in time amongst 2000, 2007, and 2017, with this last year affording Russell the social context of the Me Too movement.[6] It is implied that Vanessa is, at least in part, an unreliable narrator owing to her reluctance to see herself as a victim or Strane as a predator. My Dark Vanessa was a national bestseller.[7] It was selected for translation and publication in 22 countries, and optioned for the screen.[2][3] Reviewed positively in a number of publications,[8][9][6][10][11][12][13] My Dark Vanessa brought Russell into a public conversation regarding the novel's treatment of abusive sexual relationships, as well as an individual's right to privacy regarding past trauma.[14][15][16][17] According to Book Marks, the book received "positive" reviews based on twenty-one critic reviews with seven being "rave" and thirteen being "positive" and one being "mixed".[18] In Books in the Media, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a File:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star half.svgFile:Star empty.svg (3.86 out of 5) from the site which was based on eleven critic reviews.[19][20][21] Russell was shortlisted for the 2021 Dylan Thomas Prize for My Dark Vanessa.[22]
Controversy
As a result of the accusations of plagiarism and appropriation, Russell made a public statement disclosing that My Dark Vanessa had been inspired by her own experiences with sexual abuse as a teenager.[23][24]
Bibliography
- —— (2020). My Dark Vanessa. William Morrow. ISBN 9780062941527.
References
- ↑ "The beautiful trauma of Bangor-area native Kate Russell's debut novel, 'My Dark Vanessa'". 6 March 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Clifton native's debut novel sold in a seven-figure book deal". 13 December 2018.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "'My Dark Vanessa': Announcing the biggest-selling debut novel of the season". EW.com.
- ↑ "Kate Elizabeth Russell author information". BookBrowse.com.
- ↑ "Kate Elizabeth Russell". Graduate Program in Creative Writing. September 10, 2015.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "'My Dark Vanessa' Looks Back At The Devastation Of A Predatory Affair". NPR.org.
- ↑ Egan, Elisabeth (April 2, 2020). "Oprah's Book Club Dropped Her Novel. It Still Became a Best Seller". The New York Times.
- ↑ "My Dark Vanessa | Book Marks". Book Marks. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
- ↑ Roiphe, Katie (March 6, 2020). "Girl, Interrupted". The New York Times.
- ↑ Gilbert, Sophie (March 25, 2020). "What Is the Point of 'Lolita' From Lolita's Point of View?". The Atlantic.
- ↑ Zinovieff, Sofka (April 4, 2020). "My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell review – a powerful, shocking debut". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
- ↑ "Kate Elizabeth Russell's debut novel is an unsettling tale of abuse". The Economist.
- ↑ Liggett, Kim. "Review | 'My Dark Vanessa' is being described as 'Lolita' for the #MeToo era. It's more than that". Washington Post.
- ↑ Ovenden, Olivia (April 4, 2020). "Kate Elizabeth Russell On Writing Her Explosive Debut Novel, 'My Dark Vanessa'". Esquire.
- ↑ "The Delicate Art of Writing a Believable Sexual Predator". MEL Magazine. April 5, 2020.
- ↑ Barry, Aoife (31 March 2020). "Writing in the #MeToo era: 'It was intimidating taking on something in fiction that was happening in real time'". TheJournal.ie.
- ↑ "Kate Elizabeth Russell on My Dark Vanessa and the 'Early Aughts Lolita Complex'". Pictorial. 12 March 2020.
- ↑ "My Dark Vanessa". Book Marks. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ↑ "My Dark Vanessa Reviews". Books in the Media. Archived from the original on 27 Nov 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ↑ "My Dark Vanessa". Bookmarks. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ↑ "My Dark Vanessa". Bibliosurf (in français). 2023-10-04. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
- ↑ "Shortlist for Dylan Thomas Prize Is Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedauto2 - ↑ Russell, Kate Elizabeth (February 1, 2020). "A Note to Readers". kateelizabethrussell.com.