Publication Date: March 2020
Synopsis:
2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful forty-two-year-old English teacher.
2017. Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self willingly engaged in this relationship, or redefine herself and the events of her past. But how can Vanessa reject her first love, the man who fundamentally transformed her and has been a persistent presence in her life? Is it possible that the man she loved as a teenager—and who professed to worship only her—may be far different from what she has always believed?
What To Expect:
Alternating between the past and present, Vanessa walks the reader through her trauma and how she has attempted to cope with the consequences of her affair with an older man. Readers can expect a very heavy and graphic novel that explicitly describes sexual abuse of a minor and her attempts of regaining control over her life.
Content Warnings:
Language: Moderate – Sporadically used, mainly the f-word
Sexual Content: Open Door – Explicit and descriptive, abuse of a minor
Violence: Mild – Partner versus partner; implied, but not graphic
Substance Use: Heavy – Detailed use consistently throughout the story, mainly alcohol (some underage)
Prejudices: None
Religious Themes: None
Other Topics: Sexual abuse of a minor by a teacher, descriptions/criticisms of the “Me Too” movement, mental health (depression, anxiety, trauma), adultery, suicide
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