The achievement of [Weinman’s] impressive literary sleuthing is to bring to life a girl whose story had been lost.” — New York Times Book Review
“Gripping. . . . Glimpses into Nabokov’s process will tantalize die-hard fans, and true crime aficionados will relish Weinman’s assiduous reporting.” — O Magazine
“Superb. . . . A compelling investigation. . . . Weinman has evocatively reconstructed Sally’s nightmare.” — Fresh Air
“[A] gripping tale of a long-forgotten victim whose ordeal also echoes the more recent cases of Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard.” — People
“[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.” — Entertainment Weekly
“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.” — NPR.org
“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.” — Los Angeles Times
“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.” — Washington Post
“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.” — Boston Globe
“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.” — Los Angeles Review of Books
“Heartbreaking and sobering.” — NY Daily News
“A riveting blend of true crime, historical investigation, and literary analysis, Sarah Weinman adds another dimension to this already complicated context.” — Buzzfeed
“In this stunning work of investigative journalism, Sarah Weinman resurrects the Horner case and uncovers its deep connection to Lolita .” — Refinery29
“Weinman’s gripping work of true crime challenges a culture that privileges artistic genius over a child’s life.” — Huffington Post
“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.” — Nylon Magazine
“Gripping.” — Elle
“Weinman describes the heart-wrenching crime and shows how [Nabokov] quietly wove aspects of it into his famous Lolita .” — AARP Magazine
“Part true crime story, part literary mystery. . . . Gorgeously written, The Real Lolita reads like a novel and will thrill and captivate readers.” — Popsugar
“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.” — The Atlantic
“Weinman tells Sally’s tragic story as it has never been told before, with sensitivity and depth.” — Publishers Weekly
“A tantalizing, entertaining true-life detective and literary story.” — Kirkus Reviews
“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.” — Booklist
“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.” — Gilbert King
“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
“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.” — Megan Abbott
“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.” — Robert Kolker
[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.
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.
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.
A riveting blend of true crime, historical investigation, and literary analysis, Sarah Weinman adds another dimension to this already complicated context.
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.
Heartbreaking and sobering.
Gripping.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Superb. . . . A compelling investigation. . . . Weinman has evocatively reconstructed Sally’s nightmare.
In this stunning work of investigative journalism, Sarah Weinman resurrects the Horner case and uncovers its deep connection to 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 delivers a thoroughly riveting and heartbreaking narrative that weaves the very best of true crime writing with the darker elements of literary inspiration.
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.
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.
Part true crime story, part literary mystery. . . . Gorgeously written, The Real Lolita reads like a novel and will thrill and captivate readers.
Weinman describes the heart-wrenching crime and shows how [Nabokov] quietly wove aspects of it into his famous Lolita .
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.
In this stunning work of investigative journalism, Sarah Weinman resurrects the Horner case and uncovers its deep connection to Lolita .
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.
Los Angeles Review of Books
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 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.
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.
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.
[A] gripping tale of a long-forgotten victim whose ordeal also echoes the more recent cases of Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard.
Superb. . . . A compelling investigation. . . . Weinman has evocatively reconstructed Sally’s nightmare.
Gripping. . . . Glimpses into Nabokov’s process will tantalize die-hard fans, and true crime aficionados will relish Weinman’s assiduous reporting.
The achievement of [Weinman’s] impressive literary sleuthing is to bring to life a girl whose story had been lost.
New York Times Book Review
Sarah Weinman…has seriously researched the Nabokov connection. Her book provides extensive background for the Horner story: Among the many people she tracks down are one of Horner's nieces and a neighbor who was instrumental in Sally's rescue. The achievement of her impressive literary sleuthing is to bring to life a girl whose story had been lost.
The New York Times Book Review - Diane Johnson
06/11/2018 Journalist and editor Weinman (Women Crime Writers) combines literary theory and true crime in this speculative account of the 1948 kidnapping of Sally Horner, an 11-year-old New Jersey girl who Weinman posits was the real-life inspiration for Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel. Sally Horner, like Nabokov’s Dolores Haze, was abducted and taken across state lines by a pedophile who passed himself off as her father in public and abused her in private. Weinman chronicles the details of what is known about Sally’s life during the nearly two years she spent captive with her abductor, Frank La Salle, before recounting her harrowing rescue and La Salle’s trial and conviction for kidnapping. Alongside Sally’s narrative, Weinman looks at Nabokov’s process writing Lolita, which he agonized over for years and twice nearly destroyed. The book includes a few odd digressions and a fair amount of conjecture (“Perhaps Sally wondered why they were going so far out of their way.... Maybe she asked why they had to leave Atlantic City so quickly. Most likely, she kept any complaints or questions to herself”). More poignantly, Weinman argues that Nabokov and his wife, Véra—who served as her husband’s spokesperson and flatly denied the use of Sally’s story as inspiration for his novel—allowed Sally to be eclipsed by her fictional counterpart: Sally’s life had been “strip-mined to produce the bones of Lolita.” Drawing from interviews with relatives of those involved, Nabokov’s personal documents, and court reporting from La Salle’s trial, Weinman tells Sally’s tragic story as it has never been told before, with sensitivity and depth. (Sept.)
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.
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.
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.
Los Angeles Review of Books
Gripping. . . . Glimpses into Nabokov’s process will tantalize die-hard fans, and true crime aficionados will relish Weinman’s assiduous reporting.
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.
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.
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.
The achievement of [Weinman’s] impressive literary sleuthing is to bring to life a girl whose story had been lost.
New York Times Book Review
A riveting blend of true crime, historical investigation, and literary analysis, Sarah Weinman adds another dimension to this already complicated context.
Heartbreaking and sobering.
Gripping.
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 delivers a thoroughly riveting and heartbreaking narrative that weaves the very best of true crime writing with the darker elements of literary inspiration.
[A] gripping tale of a long-forgotten victim whose ordeal also echoes the more recent cases of Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard.
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.
[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.
Weinman describes the heart-wrenching crime and shows how [Nabokov] quietly wove aspects of it into his famous Lolita .
Weinman’s gripping work of true crime challenges a culture that privileges artistic genius over a child’s 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.
2018-06-12 True crime meets classic American literature.Lolita wasn't always considered the great work of literature it has become. Journalist Weinman (editor: Women Crime Writers: Eight Suspense Novels of the 1940s and '50s, 2015, etc.), who covers the book publishing industry for Publishers Marketplace, describes the struggles Vladimir Nabokov endured trying to find a publisher for his novel about Humbert Humbert's desire for and abduction of the young Lolita until the notorious Olympia Press published it overseas in 1955. Weinman also recounts the story of journalist Peter Welding's 1963 article in the men's magazine Nugget. He argued that the story of 11-year-old Sally Horner's abduction in 1948 by mechanic Frank La Salle, who claimed for 12 months that she was his daughter, paralleled the Lolita story "much too closely to be coincidental." Weinman's book is about her quest to "figure out what [Nabokov] knew about Sally Horner and when he knew it." Nabokov always denied any real-life influences. Like any good detective, Weinman visited the places Sally visited, talked to people who knew her and La Salle, and visited the schools Sally attended. At times, the author relies on her imagination to re-create Sally's story: Did Sally imagine escaping; did she pray? In alternating chapters, Weinman recounts the 20-year genesis of Nabokov's novel, which "emerged piecemeal." She explores how he and his wife often traveled the country, staying at motels and searching for butterflies, all the while composing Lolita on index cards. The author also draws attention to an August 1952, newspaper article about Sally's death at 15 and the notes Nabokov took about it. Here, she writes, "is proof that her story captured his attention." Ultimately, "Lolita's narrative...depended more on a real-life crime than Nabokov would ever admit."A tantalizing, entertaining true-life detective and literary story whose roots were hidden deep in a novel that has perplexed and challenged readers for decades.