Sarah Weinman

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.

The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World

The Real Lolita

“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.” —David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon 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.

The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World

Sarahi Flores

The most recognized novel in the world is actually based on an actual crime? It shouldn’t surprised me but it does. When I found out about this novel I had to read it  I actually listened the audiobook instead. It gave more an in-depth story of how the girl, Sally Horner, was kidnapped and how it led to years of being in the hands of a monster until she finally managed to escape. I feel as Vladimir Nabokov found his muse for what it would be the most talked about novel in the world.     True crime novels have a way of gaining a new perspective in the mind of the victim and the bad guy. Learning on how Lolita was created was very intriguing and mystifying for Nabokov was basically the first write to have written something so ugly but with such sophistication that basically makes you seem to make you forget why we’re you upset about. This is the beginning of how one writer exploits a victim’s  story and characterize it into something fictional that looses the importance of how the story was indeed real and serious.     I admit that Lolita was a good novel. However, to exploit someone’s story and making it into a work of a muse is a pretty much misleading. Reading this book made me feel differently about Lolita and how Sally Horner was the poor victim of a monster who kidnapped her and also a victim of how her story was made into a fictional novel. I give this book 4 stars. I would just recommend reading it rather than listening to it because I kept losing track on where I kept stopping.

Renee Delcourt

I had no interest reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I was always thankful in fact that I never had to read it for required reading in literature. There was always a sense of wrongness that surrounded that book even with the very little I had known about it. As an adult I knew what it was that made me feel so gross and without knowing the context of the case behind the book made me feel that being a girl was something to be afraid of. 

The book explains the true crime behind the book that was referenced in the text and may have even influenced the book itself. The author both explains Nabokov's background and writings previous to Lolita and Sally Horner's kidnapping and horrible experiences at the hands of Frank La Salle. It's a horrifying take on what I have often heard of as America's purest Literature. 

I would highly recommend this to anyone who follows true crime or has interest in learning more about classic literature authors.

Rachel

I received a free copy of The Real Lolita from Edelweiss Plus in exchange for a review! I never heard of Sally Horner and this book proves what a shame that is since her story inspired Lolita. Sarah describes Sally's ordeal of being kidnapped and abused for 2 years and how Nabokov came to learn about her story and used it to shape out Lolita. The author provides hard proof and comparisons that prove Sally's life influenced Lolita. There is bit of speculation and drawing conclusions about the timeline and actual events that kind of devalue the point of the book. The writing style could have been better and polished more because at times it read like a forced paper someone was assigned to do. Overall The Real Lolita is great if you like true crime or have read Lolita. I especially like that the author explains the misconceptions of Lolita and by comparing that story to Sally's, it can remind people the point of Lolita, but also kinda of messed up that Nabokov used Sally's story without officially admitting it was used and overshadowed experiences of a real girl in Lolita's position.

The Real Lolita The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World

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