A Weinstein Juror Was Nearly Kicked Off the Trial Over This Controversial Novel
‘My Dark Vanessa,’ by debut-novelist Kate Elizabeth Russell, is a triumph in how it encapsulates and transcends our current cultural moment
“It’s strange to know that whenever I remember myself at 15, I’ll think of this.”
In a bizarre update to the ongoing sexual assault trial against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, his lawyers this week requested that one of the jurors be dismissed for reading and potentially reviewing a book about “predatory older men.” That book, My Dark Vanessa by debut novelist Kate Elizabeth Russell, doesn’t come out until March 10, yet it’s already the subject of several controversies. Though the juror remains on the panel — she is apparently a novelist herself and writes on similar topics — it’s just the latest headline about My Dark Vanessa that has little to do with the book itself.
Last month, Latinx writer Wendy Ortiz claimed the novel had “eerie story similarities” to her own memoir about the same topic — specifically, a teenager who forms “a relationship” with a teacher. Others took that to mean that the novel was “appropriated” or plagiarized from Ortiz’s book, an allegation which Ortiz has since dismissed, saying that she never outright…
