This book was wonderful and horrible all at the same time. Reading Ms. Springora's account of her abuse at the hands of someone so much her elder, it was like reading my own account. I, too, was groomed by a man much older than me. I was 13 and he was 41. It seems as though the events stay the same, even as the players change. My heart goes out to Ms. Springora and all the other victims he left in his wake. This account is very well-written and I am so glad she was finally able to share her story with the world, not just the perverted version he wanted everyone to believe.

As a parent this was a really hard book for me to read. Her story of being targeted by a predatory, made me so mad for her and then furious at all the adults who knew and didn’t try to save her. Then on top of all that, this monster uses her as his “muse” to write his best selling books. The story is disturbing and heartbreaking and you can just feel her emotional anguish as she retells it. It’s a good story but it’s definitely a hard read one emotionally.

In this powerful memoir, author Vanessa Springora recounts her relationship as a teenager with a semi-famous author who was thirty years her senior. The book walks through the introduction of "GM" to her life and the subsequent years of abuse that followed.

Written in an extremely matter of fact manner, despite the intense emotions undoubtedly flowing through every word, Consent makes it so easy to understand how a much older man can insinuate himself into the life of a young girl. I was horrified throughout, not just by what "V." experienced, but by the inaction of the adults in her life (including her own mother) who were fully aware of the "affair."

Reading this story in light of the #metoo movement and the events of the past few years is a stark reminder of the passes given to those in positions of influence in cases of child abuse. While it's hard to imagine V.'s story unfolding in the same way today, there's no question that there are still girls living in this hell and adults turning a blind eye. We need to do better, for ourselves, and for the generations to come.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advance review copy of this book.

This book may have been slim, but I felt as if I read a longer book because of the heavy content. I know the culture in Europe is different than the United States (particularly in the 1970’s & 80’s), but I just couldn’t fathom so many adults approving of or looking the other way when it came to Vanessa and the writer, who was almost 40 years her senior. I was also extremely angry on Vanessa’s behalf when she recounts how the writer posted underage pictures of her without her consent, and nothing was done legally about that either.
Despite all of the trauma, the neglect, and the gaslighting that Vanessa endures, her perseverance shines through the pages. After years of being made the subject of a story she tried so hard to escape from, she is finally writing her own

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53327897-consent" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Consent: A Memoir" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1596430964l/53327897._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53327897-consent">Consent: A Memoir</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19855159.Vanessa_Springora">Vanessa Springora</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3602058481">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I received an advanced copy from Netgalley for an honest review. This book went by very quickly. At first I was appalled that the mother let her 14 year old daughter get involved with a 50 year old man. Then I was sickened by G. (the 50 yr old who thinks it is ok to introduce children to sex). I often questioned "v's" behavior but I had to cut her some slack as she was only a child. At times hard to read but I felt that "V" was getting played by a pedophile. Sad. The writing is terrific and all in all an interesting but somewhat shocking read.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/5483119-sherry">View all my reviews</a>

When Vanessa Springora was 14, she became one of many adolescent sexual victims of a well-known French author. Not only did he steal her innocence, he used their 'relationship' for years afterward as fodder for his novels and published diaries, barely concealing her identity and forcing her to continually relive her victimization for the rest of her life. Now, decades later, she has finally written a memoir exposing the truth of what happened and the complicity of her parents, adult friends, and the literary world of Paris. Her abuser spent much of her life torturing her with his written words -- It seems only right that she's now turning the tables and forcing him to finally pay a public price for his actions.

This book was difficult to read, but it's so important that stories like these are published. Many women will see themselves in 14-year-old Vanessa -- I had watchful parents who made sure nothing like this happened to me, but reading this book, it was all too easy to think of men waiting in the wings for an opportunity at various points in my life. As a mother/stepmother, I've also seen these men lurking around my teen girls and their friends. I noticed very early on that the girls whose fathers weren't around often seemed to be targeted by the overly-friendly male teacher or coach or youth leader -- and I noticed that other parents disturbingly weren't willing to intervene or try to stop these men, much like in Vanessa's situation. It should be noted that I don't believe most men who work with adolescents are this way, but there are definitely some creepers out there and I think every woman knows exactly the type of man I'm talking about.

My hope is that as more and more women feel empowered to come out of the shadows and tell these stories, these incidents will become fewer and farther between. There is a definite air in Vanessa's memoir of trying to convince the reader that what happened was not her fault and that it was wrong even though she gave her consent at the time -- This made me sad, because it should go without saying that a 14-year-old's consent to a 50-year-old man is no consent at all ! 14-year-old doesn't even know what she's consenting to, or how it will impact her life down the road.

Vanessa Springora's memoir is brave and powerful and I'm glad that it appears to be having a major impact on the literary community in France and on the life of the man who victimized her all those years ago.

This just wasn't the book I thought it would be. I had great hopes for an interesting memoir, but I just couldn't get interested in it, despite multiple attempts. It was too literary for my taste. I wanted a story, not a description of how Paris feels to a young girl.

It's abominable to read about how the French version of Jeffrey Epstein engaged, at age 50, in a sexual relationship with the 14-year-old Springora, "What characterizes sexual predators in general and pedophiles in particular is the refusal to acknowledge the gravity of their acts." She wrote this book to set the record straight--that his acts DID have dire consequences in her life.

Gabriel Matzneff, the famous French writer, was open in his books and articles about his sexual experiences with children, from French pubescent girls to boys ages 10-12 in the Philippines--and nevertheless, he was highly acclaimed, lauded with many literary prizes, appearing on television, etc. At one point the police had him under investigation, but he essentially charmed his way out of being arrested. It's all about power, about being shielded because they are the "aristocrats" of society--in France the aristocrats are famous intellectuals, and in the U.S. they are the fabulously wealthy and famous.

Meanwhile, these men wreak havoc on children's lives. Springora has received some pushback for daring to take down a "great" writer--not unlike Joyce Maynard who revealed in her memoir "Alone in the World" J. D. Salinger's penchant for young girls. But mostly, thanks to the #metoo movement, Springora has gotten support for writing the story that is hers to tell--for an anonymous adolescent's life IS worth something.

Springora's novel is an account of "letting go"--a release of grief and of anger. Her story is one of a fourteen-year-old girl targeted by a sexual predator who kept her as his "muse" for several years. Playing upon his fame and experience, this man lured her--and evidently many other very young girls and even boys--into sex. This man then, in an egregious act, used accounts with his victims to write best-selling novels. Springora's relationship with this famous writer has resonated tragically throughout her life. Poignant and shockingly sad, this novel "outs" yet another pedophile and sexual predator.