Credit: Elena Seibert
Kate Elizabeth Russell released her debut novel two days before COVID-19 caused a nationwide shutdown. The pandemic has caused a host of complications for the publishing industry, but as complications go, that timing was, basically the worst. Now,
My Dark Vanessais releasing in paperback, offering the chance for readers who may have been a little preoccupied in March 2020 seriously, did
anyone get any reading done that month? to discover it anew.
The book alternates between two timelines: the year 2000, when a teenaged Vanessa Wye is seduced into a sexual relationship with her high school teacher, and 2017, as she grapples with her memories and the ways in which it wreaks havoc on her adult life. Despite its many similarities to the boon of post-#MeToo-era pop culture, Russell began work on