OCTOBER 2018 - AudioFile
Who was Sally Horner? And to what extent did Vladimir Nabokov base his famous novel LOLITA directly on Sally’s tragic story? These are the questions that Sarah Weinman explores through intense research and excellent writing. Narrator Cassandra Campbell’s experience with narrating both fiction and nonfiction is put to good use as she conveys the factual details uncovered by Weinman’s research and interviews. The reimagined story of Sally Horner’s life is presented in a Truman Capote style of re-creating the emotions and potential motivations of the real-life characters. Listeners may find themselves intrigued by Horner’s story. But if they’re not interested in Nabokov and LOLITA, they may question Weinman’s obsessive inquiry. E.Q. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Megan Abbott
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.
David Grann
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.
Gilbert King
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.
Booklist
Spine-straightening. . . . Weinman’s sensitive insights into Horner’s struggle play in stunning counterpoint to her illuminations of Nabokov’s dark obsession and literary daring, and Lolita’s explosive impact.
The Atlantic
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.
Popsugar
Part true crime story, part literary mystery. . . . Gorgeously written, The Real Lolita reads like a novel and will thrill and captivate readers.
AARP Magazine
Weinman describes the heart-wrenching crime and shows how [Nabokov] quietly wove aspects of it into his famous Lolita.
Elle
Gripping.
Nylon Magazine
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.
Huffington Post
Weinman’s gripping work of true crime challenges a culture that privileges artistic genius over a child’s life.
Refinery29
In this stunning work of investigative journalism, Sarah Weinman resurrects the Horner case and uncovers its deep connection to Lolita.
Buzzfeed
A riveting blend of true crime, historical investigation, and literary analysis, Sarah Weinman adds another dimension to this already complicated context.
NY Daily News
Heartbreaking and sobering.
Los Angeles Review of Books
Utterly engrossing. . . . 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.
Boston Globe
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.
Washington Post
Superb. . . . 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.
Los Angeles Times
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 a nearly forgotten girl’s voice in discussions of one of the great works of American literature.
NPR.org
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.
Entertainment Weekly
[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.
People
[A] gripping tale of a long-forgotten victim whose ordeal also echoes the more recent cases of Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard.
Fresh Air
Superb. . . . A compelling investigation. . . . Weinman has evocatively reconstructed Sally’s nightmare.
O Magazine
Gripping. . . . Glimpses into Nabokov’s process will tantalize die-hard fans, and true crime aficionados will relish Weinman’s assiduous reporting.
New York Times Book Review
The achievement of [Weinman’s] impressive literary sleuthing is to bring to life a girl whose story had been lost.
Robert Kolker
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.
OCTOBER 2018 - AudioFile
Who was Sally Horner? And to what extent did Vladimir Nabokov base his famous novel LOLITA directly on Sally’s tragic story? These are the questions that Sarah Weinman explores through intense research and excellent writing. Narrator Cassandra Campbell’s experience with narrating both fiction and nonfiction is put to good use as she conveys the factual details uncovered by Weinman’s research and interviews. The reimagined story of Sally Horner’s life is presented in a Truman Capote style of re-creating the emotions and potential motivations of the real-life characters. Listeners may find themselves intrigued by Horner’s story. But if they’re not interested in Nabokov and LOLITA, they may question Weinman’s obsessive inquiry. E.Q. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
