This is a September 2018 release given to me at Book Expo America. It is a nonfiction, so not really my usual fair. That being said -spoilers ahead.
Title: The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World
Author: Sarah Weinman
Stars: ★★★
This book isn’t for the faint of heart. It’ll rile you. Leave you angry at the world – at authors who embrace the social spin of blame aimed at young girls and minimize the depravity of truly unforgivable people.
Sarah Weinman presents a well-researched account of both Sally Horner’s kidnapping and the events leading up to Nabokov’s publishing of Lolita. The two contrast strangely, and I came away more assured than ever that Lolita will never be on my reading list. While dislike of the plot and disagreement with the subject’s treatment had been my excuse before, a disturbing opportunism permeates Nabokov’s work for me now.
A timely work, The Real Lolita handles not only Sally Horner’s kidnapping and abuse but the aftermath where society placed blame on her and dehumanized her further. Perhaps David Grann put it best: “Not only does it shed new light on the terrifying true saga that influenced Nabokov’s [work], it restores the forgotten victim to our consciousness.”
Buy Link:
Eli Celata 
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