Books like My dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Lolita tells the story of an English professor, Humbert Humbert, who becomes obsessed with his 12‑year‑old stepdaughter, Dolores Haze, nicknamed "Lolita," and the disturbing consequences of their relationship.

A Little Life follows four college friends in New York as they confront trauma, love and the enduring scars of their pasts, weaving themes of friendship, family, and identity into a profound coming‑of‑age story.

In an elite New England college, a charismatic classics professor lures a group of eccentric students into obsessive study, leading them from intellectual curiosity to corruption, betrayal, and ultimately murder.

Nothing, in all it's entirety.

Reporter Camille Preaker returns to her hometown after a brief stay in a psychiatric hospital to cover the murders of two preteen girls, and must confront the trauma of her own past to uncover the truth.

Tom Ripley is hired to travel to Italy and persuade a wayward son to return home, but he becomes obsessed with taking the boy’s life, identity and wealth.

A suspenseful look inside the seemingly perfect marriage of Jack and Grace, where love, secrecy, and abuse mask a household of hidden violence.

Eva grapples with her role as mother after her son Kevin, a teenage boy, murders seven classmates, a cafeteria worker and a teacher. Two years later, she confronts the aftermath and her own doubts.

On a tiny Greek island, Rebecca’s initial dislike of Cal Ryder turns into an unexpected passion as their encounters unfold.

A teacher's unexpected journey to uncover the secrets of a young student's family.

Lucy Snowe, a solitary governess, arrives in Belgium to teach at a girls’ boarding school in Villette and confronts isolation, complex emotions, and unrequited love.

Ms. Beatrice Hempel balances earnest teaching with her own search for identity, exploring the fine line between guiding students and being understood by them.

"Latin instructor Jerome Washington is a man out of place. The lone African-American teacher at the Chelsea School, an all-boys boarding school in Connecticut, he has championed the classical virtues of rigor and discipline since he was hired nearly two decades ago. Nicknamed "Wooden Washington" by his students, he has spent his career - and his life - at Chelsea trying not to appear too "racial": He is reserved, controlled, seemingly content with his isolated life.". "Into his classroom one autumn morning steps Rashid Bryson, a promising African-American student from New York City. He sees in Washington a potential ally, a man who is sure to understand the younger man's need to find his bearings in this citadel of the white status quo. But to Bryson's surprise and dismay, Washington responds unexpectedly to him. It is up to Jana Hansen, herself a newcomer to Chelsea, to come to Bryson's aid. A middle-aged white divorcee who used to teach public school in Cleveland, she is as foreign to the sylvan self-possession of the Chelsea School as Washington and Bryson are.". "As the three get to know one another, and as they struggle with their individual loss, they begin their journey toward an inevitable and ultimately tragic confrontation that is both painful and life-altering. Told from three different perspectives, The Fall of Rome explores powerful and timely issues as it unfolds inexorably, like the classical tragedies that were the glory of ancient civilizations."--BOOK JACKET.

Viscount Peregren and Miss Vanessa Whitmore got off on the wrong foot. While reading this part I thought of Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett for a brief moment. Instead of apologizing, Peregren just dug himself deeper. From there on out, Vanessa was a light comedy of errors.

A widowed stepmother’s matchmaking scheme forces landowner Mr. Quentin Travers to flee, while he mingles with the spirited Vanessa Hartland and her asthmatic sister Helen. In a bustling village, unlikely allies—two terriers, a poodle, and a parrot—assist a tangled game of affection and deception.

An ingenious tale of an ordinary family invited to the Gardner home by the agent of their destruction, The Tutor is Peter Abrahams' chilling suspense novel that explores the dangers of manipulation and the potential for redemption.

After losing her fiancé, former actress Alex Morris becomes a drama‑therapy teacher at a high‑school for expelled teens in Edinburgh, where Greek tragedies awaken dark passions in a class of rebellious youth.