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Book Review
'Maybe that lack of love shaped the loneliness he saw in me'
What in God’s green earth did I just read.
I picked up this book from a local bric-brac market and to say I’ve been left stunned would be an understatement. I had no idea what the book was about, simply picked it up because I had seen the cover once or twice online.
Ok, deep breath, here’s the synopsis:
Vanessa Wye is 15. Her English Lit teacher, Jacob Strane, is twenty something years her senior. They begin an affair. Or to be more accurate; Strane is a pedophile, purposefully identifying Vanessa as vulnerable, grooms her and then sexually abuses her, derailing her life and her sanity beyond belief.
First and foremost; the writing. Damn the writing is good. Style wise, addictive. Substance wise, the subtlety of the way Strane’s abuse and manipulation is disguised as an active choice on Vanessa’s part, where she is constantly gaslighted into believing that this is her doing, a willing participant, something she wants, abuse being masqueraded as some type of forbidden love story, speaks volumes.
'Sometimes it really does feel like a curse, the meaning I can attach to anything'
This book is such an interesting depiction of the depravity and deceit of an abuser. Reading the book from Vanessa’s perspective is fascinating; the way we unpack the complexity of her coming to terms with what happened to her as she has gotten older.
I think I’m going to stop there purely because there’s no way I can continue talking about this book without spoilers.
Overall, it’s a 5* from me.
