“Superb…A compelling investigation…Weinman has evocatively reconstructed Sally’s nightmare.
The Real Lolita
Paperback
- ISBN
- 9780062661937
- Publisher
- Ecco
- Publication Date
- Sep, 10 2019
Clothbound
- ISBN
- 9780062661920
- Publisher
- Ecco (US)
- Publication Date
- Sep, 11 2018
Ebook
- ISBN
- 9780062661944
- Publication Date
- Sep, 11 2018
Clothbound
- ISBN
- 9780735272736
- Publisher
- Knopf (Canada)
- Publication Date
- Sep, 11 2018
Clothbound
- ISBN
- 9781474605595
- Publisher
- Weidenfeld & Nicolson
- Publication Date
- Sep, 25 2018
A gripping true-crime investigation of the 1948 abduction of Sally Horner and how it inspired Vladimir Nabokov’s classic novel, Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is one of the most beloved and notorious novels of all time. And yet very few of its readers know that the subject of the novel was inspired by a real-life case: the 1948 abduction of eleven-year-old Sally Horner.
Weaving together suspenseful crime narrative, cultural and social history, and literary investigation, The Real Lolita tells Sally Horner’s full story for the very first time. Drawing upon extensive investigations, legal documents, public records, and interviews with remaining relatives, Sarah Weinman uncovers how much Nabokov knew of the Sally Horner case and the efforts he took to disguise that knowledge during the process of writing and publishing Lolita.
Sally Horner’s story echoes the stories of countless girls and women who never had the chance to speak for themselves. By diving deeper in the publication history of Lolita and restoring Sally to her rightful place in the lore of the novel’s creation, The Real Lolita casts a new light on the dark inspiration for a modern classic.
Praise for The Real Lolita
“The achievement of [Weinman’s] impressive literary sleuthing is to bring to life a girl whose story had been lost.
“Riveting. . . . Scrupulously researched. . . . Nearly 70 years after Sally Horner’s death, Weinman’s dark and compulsively readable book will make readers aware of the absence of nearly forgotten girl’s voice in discussions of one of the great works of American literature.
“Weinman describes the heart-wrenching crime and shows how [Nabokov] quietly wove aspects of it into his famous Lolita.
“Part true crime story, part literary mystery…Gorgeously written, The Real Lolita reads like a novel and will thrill and captivate readers.
“Sarah Weinman unearths the case of Sally Horner, a schoolgirl who was kidnapped in 1948. . . .Weinman argues that the road-trip and school details provided Nabokov with the scaffolding he needed to finish Lolita. . . . She’s essentially clinched the case.
“Fascinating. . . . Weinman’s book works brilliantly as both detective narrative and cultural history. . . . She gives us brilliant insight into a tragic story, but also a nuanced, empathetic look at the young girl at its center.
“Weinman’s gripping work of true crime challenges a culture that privileges artistic genius over a child’s life.
“[A] gripping tale of a long-forgotten victim whose ordeal also echoes the more recent cases of Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard.
“In this stunning work of investigative journalism, Sarah Weinman resurrects the Horner case and uncovers its deep connection to Lolita.
“Utterly engrossing. . . . Weinman dazzles the reader with the recreation of this time period. . . As we read through this mesmerizing book, Weinman’s obsession becomes the reader’s obsession…We develop boundless compassion for this once little girl, along with a deep empathy and sorrow for the story of her life.
“A sensitive look at the troubling crime that influenced Vladimir Nabokov’s most notorious book; Weinman writes with insight and empathy about both the famous author and the now-forgotten girl whose story intrigued him.
“Superb. . . . [Weinman] has now become something of a literary detective herself, conducting an investigation into the case she says inspired Lolita. . . . Weinman assembles a substantial array of evidence. . . . Weinman has compassionately given Sally Horner pride of place once more in her own life, a life that was first brutally warped by Frank La Salle, and then appropriated by one of the most brilliant writers of the 20th century.
“Sarah Weinman doubles up on her literary sleuthing. . . .She unearths plenty of fascinating, often unexpected material… The Real Lolita stands out for its captivating mix of tenacious investigative reporting, well-chosen photographs, astute literary analysis, and passionate posthumous recognition of a defenseless child who — until now — never received the literary acknowledgment she deserved.
“[Weinman’s] real achievement is evocatively relating the story of a girl who—like her fictional counterpart—was no temptress…but the victim of a sexual predator. . . . [She] has brilliantly filled out her subject’s ghost.
““Gripping.”
“A tantalizing, entertaining true-life detective and literary story.
““Weinman tells Sally’s tragic story as it has never been told before, with sensitivity and depth.”
“THE REAL LOLITA is the corrective we never knew we needed, a lively, engrossing work of scholarship that does not diminish Nabokov, but gently insists that we not indulge his trickster ways. Sally Horner matters and, thanks to Sarah Weinman, she and Dolores Haze will be forever linked. Groundbreaking work, a new genre unto itself.
“The Real Lolita is a tour de force of literary detective work. Not only does it shed new light on the terrifying true saga that influenced Nabokov’s masterpiece, it restores the forgotten victim to our consciousness.
“Compassionate and necessary, Sarah Weinman’s The Real Lolita is more than a true-crime achievement. It’s a literary rescue mission, bringing to life the tragic real-life case that forms the dark heart of Nabokov’s classic. You’ll never read Lolita the same way again.
“Sarah Weinman’s captivating, heart-rending The Real Lolita offers both nuanced and compassionate true-crime reportage and revelatory cultural and literary history. It will, quite simply, change the way you think about Lolita and ‘Lolitas’ forever.
““Sarah Weinman delivers a thoroughly riveting and heartbreaking narrative that weaves the very best of true crime writing with the darker elements of literary inspiration.”