Instant New York Times Bestseller "An exceedingly complex, inventive, resourceful examination of harm and power". - The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice "A lightning rod... brilliantly crafted". - The Washington Post A most anticipated book by The New York Times, Usa Today, Entertainment Weekly, Marie Claire, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Bustle, Newsweek, New York Post, Esquire, Real Simple, The Sunday Times, The Guardian Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naive teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer. 2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful forty-two-year-old English teacher.