The case for what Vladimir Nabokov knew of Sally Horner and when he knew it falls squarely into the latter category. Investigating it, and how he incorporated Sally’s story into Lolita, led me to uncover deeper ties between reality and fiction, and to the thematic compulsion Nabokov spent more than two decades exploring, in fits and starts, before finding full fruition in Lolita. Lolita’s narrative, it turns out, depended more on a real-life crime than Nabokov would ever admit.
Highlights will end soon.
But this book is asking good questions.
(Note: Too many helpful passages. A lot of highlights ahead.)
