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A review by oofie
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World by Sarah Weinman
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
The Real Lolita talks about two different stories: that of Vladimir Nabokov and his book, Lolita, and that of Sally Horner, whose story the author argues largely inspired the famous Lolita.
Sally Horner was kidnapped at age eleven, taken across the country, and routinely raped and abused for two years before she was able to escape from her captor, Frank La Salle. There's not a lot on her, unfortunately. She never testified in court or wrote of her experiences, so there isn't a lot we necessarily know. And then she died in an accident only two years after returning to her former life. Her story is tragic and really all too short, and the author makes a compelling case for how it mirrors a lot of Dolores' story in Lolita.
There is some exposition on Nabokov as well. The author talks about his cross country trips, his interest in butterflies, his life before and after Lolita is published, and then there are some notes of his as well, such as other famous crimes of the time, which he had written for Lolita.
Overall, I wish there was more on Sally, but I don't think that that's the author's fault. She just largely has faded into history without acknowledgment, and I'm really glad that she at least got this book. I think the author made a compelling case for Sally's story being the basis of that of Lolita. I enjoyed reading this book overall.
Sally Horner was kidnapped at age eleven, taken across the country, and routinely raped and abused for two years before she was able to escape from her captor, Frank La Salle. There's not a lot on her, unfortunately. She never testified in court or wrote of her experiences, so there isn't a lot we necessarily know. And then she died in an accident only two years after returning to her former life. Her story is tragic and really all too short, and the author makes a compelling case for how it mirrors a lot of Dolores' story in Lolita.
There is some exposition on Nabokov as well. The author talks about his cross country trips, his interest in butterflies, his life before and after Lolita is published, and then there are some notes of his as well, such as other famous crimes of the time, which he had written for Lolita.
Overall, I wish there was more on Sally, but I don't think that that's the author's fault. She just largely has faded into history without acknowledgment, and I'm really glad that she at least got this book. I think the author made a compelling case for Sally's story being the basis of that of Lolita. I enjoyed reading this book overall.