Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

My Dark Vanessa

By: Kate Elizabeth Russell
Narrated by: Grace Gummer
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

An instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 DYLAN THOMAS AWARD

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.

©2020 Kate Elizabeth Russell (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

What If? cover art
My Perfect Daughter cover art
Murder in Tuscany cover art
The Book-Lovers' Retreat cover art
Everyday History cover art
Very Bad People cover art
Broadland cover art
Outback cover art
Your Place or Mine? cover art
All Eyes on Us cover art
There Goes Sunday School cover art
When You Were Everything cover art
Fluff cover art
It Ends with Us cover art
That's Not What Happened cover art
If He Had Been with Me cover art

Critic reviews

"The book everyone will be talking about." (Louise O'Neill)

"...a package of dynamite." (Stephen King)

"Compulsive. I burned through the first half in such a fever that I lost sleep, I missed meals...a lightning rod." (Washington Post)

What listeners say about My Dark Vanessa

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    893
  • 4 Stars
    385
  • 3 Stars
    123
  • 2 Stars
    25
  • 1 Stars
    13
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    953
  • 4 Stars
    206
  • 3 Stars
    67
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    7
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    792
  • 4 Stars
    317
  • 3 Stars
    105
  • 2 Stars
    23
  • 1 Stars
    13

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Lost impetus towards the end

I thought this book was stunning and very impactful in its description of abuse and how the victim can get so entangled and conflicted.
I wasn’t sure about the narrator at first but the contrast between her ‘dead’ voice and the more hopeful voice at the beginning was good. Particularly enjoyed the final encounter between Vanessa and Taylor, but ultimately think it was too long and meandering.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Everyone should listen to or read this book

Couldn't stop listening. A must read for everyone. The story deals with trauma brilliantly.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Thought Provoking

I loved Vanessa. She reminded me of parts of myself growing up. I didn't love Strain. The story made me uncomfortable and angry and I think that was entirely the point. Highly recommend. Could listen to Grace Gummer narrate all day long.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

what a fantastic story

I loved the book it is so emotionally Dark great story far a novice brighter

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The darkness within

This book is written in an open ended way so the reader can interpret this for themselves.

Ms Russell the author does not make what happened in the book ok as it is an awful subject to cover, However she guides you through Vanessa's life by exploring her feelings and the complications of growing up. The struggles the pain wonder and joy.

Ms Russell writes about Mr Strane her teacher so well. He is so perceptive to all around him, but he was a calculated abuser and kept Vanessa helpless through his manipulation.

What I did find it odd was when the author, editor and narrator got together for a chat at the end of the book, when they asked what they loved about the book, what was your favourite scene etc....... It’s about a peadophile and the abuse of a 15 year old girl, so these word seemed very strange in the context of the question.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Uncomfortable but worth it

good performance, excellent writing. I think a lot of women relate to Vanessa, which is sad but the truth.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling.

I couldn’t stop listening. The story pulled me right in. Performance was excellent. Difficult subject matter but told in a unique thought provoking way

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Vanessa is controversial

I found the protagonist very disturbed… the teacher is of course in the wrong too…

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant

the narrator is brilliant, the story sucks you in and got through this is no time! recommend!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

The author clearly understands extremely well the process of grooming and the reasons why the abused don’t tell. The story is very thought provoking. Vanessa seems so real and relatable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!