I would like to share with my readers that My Dark Vanessa, which I’ve been working on for nearly 20 years, was inspired by my own experiences as a teenager. Others, though, say that Ortiz’s accusations of plagiarism are hasty and misguided. The parallels between the two books are being used as evidence of the entrenched biases and double standards of the publishing industry. Ortiz wrote an essay accusing Russell of borrowing from the real-life experiences of a Latina author-in this case, those in Ortiz’s memoir Excavation-for her own work of fiction. My Dark Vanessa, which revolves around the relationship between a teenage girl and her teacher, has drawn praise from the likes of Stephen King, Gillian Flynn, and Kristen Roupenian, author of “ Cat Person.” But the book is now embroiled in a controversy similar to the one around American Dirt. Even as details are still emerging in the maelstrom around Jeanine Cummins’ migrant novel American Dirt, there’s already a new Literary Twitter drama brewing, this one concerning Kate Elizabeth Russell’s much-anticipated debut My Dark Vanessa.
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