IN:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Partit\u00fara Irodalomtudom\u00e1nyi foly\u00f3irat, Volume XX. , Issue 1, 2025, page 57-74.\u00a0, ISSN 1336-7307<\/span> DOI:\u00a0<\/strong>10.17846\/PA.2025.20.1.57-74<\/p>\n Abstract:<\/strong><\/p>\n The debut novel by Kate Elizabeth Russell, My Dark Vanessa (2020) translated into Hungarian in 2021 by Judit Bernadett Borb\u00e9ly, focuses on the physical and emotional relationship that develops between a 42-year-old literature teacher and a 15-year-old student. This time, we read the novel in the context of Hungarian school novels featuring teacher heroes who can also be interpreted as victims: examples include Kosztol\u00e1nyi\u2019s The Golden Kite, Nero and the VII. A by Alad\u00e1r Koml\u00f3s, S\u00e1ndor M\u00e1rai\u2019s novel Baby or First Love, and \u00c1gnes M\u00e9sz\u00f6ly\u2019s young adult novel The Darwin Game. The analysis aims to show how much more Russell\u2019s novel is than an investigative newspaper article about a harassment case. The roles of teacher and student, certain parallels (e.g., Nabokov\u2019s Lolita or Britney Spears), the narrative style, and the motif of the dog all serve to confirm this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n