When we think about sexual assault, we often don’t associate it with literature. There’s a common consensus in our society that determines that literature has two main goals: to entertain and bring knowledge. What we often forget—and get reminded of time and time again by passionate college professors and avid readers—is that literature is a medium in which life is portrayed as is or in various creative forms.
Throughout centuries, authors have used literature to depict and analyze their societies, while also fleshing out characters that represent a feeling, an emotion, a social construct, or a paradigm. These characters have passed the test of time because readers all over the world, from different points in time, relate to their experiences, problems, feelings, and positions in society—everything that constructs and deconstructs their lives. Literature is, thus, an art form in which a writer can depict social problems that affect their society in order to bring awareness and, ideally, social change.
As we approach a more enlightened moment in history, and in the wake of the Me Too Movement, survivors who have gone through this harrowing and traumatizing experience are able to use the sharpest weapon they have—their voices—to both accuse their abusers and help other survivors with their healing processes. Sometimes their voices come through words, in the form of literature.
In hopes of reaching survivors and people who don’t understand the trauma behind sexual assault, I’ve created a list of heartbreaking yet amazing books that depict the reality of sexual assault without minimizing survivors’ experiences.
- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
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“Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.”
Speak (1999) is one of the first novels that tackled the difficult subject of sexual assault and paved the way for other writers to delve into this subject to bring awareness to it while depicting the reality of survivors through fiction. The novel follows Melinda Sordino, a freshman beginning high school, who becomes a social pariah after calling the cops on an end-of-summer party. What her classmates and ex-best friends don’t know is that something terrible happened to Melinda at that party, something that takes away her voice and robs her of her ownership over her body. Throughout the narrative, Melinda becomes less and less vocal, while having to see her abuser on a daily basis at school. Through her Art class, Melinda is able to realize what happened to her. The question is, will she speak or remain silent?
Like the title suggests, the novel encourages sexual assault survivors to speak about their experiences, while also reflecting on the traumatizing dynamics behind their initial silence. With a witty and sarcastic protagonist, as well as sharp writing and a realistic portrayal of the life-shattering and traumatizing effects of sexual assault, Speak is a novel that will stay with you.
- Asking for It by Louise O’Neill
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“We teach our girls how not to get raped with a sense of doom, a sense that we are fighting a losing battle.”
Asking for It (2015) narrates the story of Emma O’Donovan, a beautiful and fearless eighteen-year-old who seems to have the perfect life. The story is divided in two parts: Last Year and This Year. In Last Year, the reader is presented with the events that take place before the rape and the actual rape. Emma is presented as a mean girl who is inconsiderate to her friends’ feelings, disrespectful to everyone around her, and only cares about her physical beauty. Through her, O’Neill creates a dislikeable character to prove a point and challenge the reader. Just because someone is mean does not mean that they deserve to get raped. Rape is NEVER acceptable. In This Year, O’Neill presents the devastating reality that has become Emma’s life as she tries to understand what was done to her as she decides if she will proceed with a trial.
What is devastating about Emma’s story is that there is tangible proof of her rape, but since the abusers are high-profiled athletes in her town, everyone decides to not believe her. Graphic pictures of her rape circulate online, for both her small town and the world to see, as her case begins to be televised and talked about. A criminal investigation ensues and the media makes her story their top priority. Asking for It portrays the inhumane and cruel parts of the public reaction to sexual assault.
This book is so much more than words on paper, than ideas made into descriptions, than a tangible item that will soon occupy a space on my shelf. This book has life. The protagonist, Emma O’Donovan, is real. She’s no longer a character, because she exists. O’Neill might’ve created her, but Emma became her own person, detached from the author that gave her life. Emma is me, the girl you sit next to on the train, the mother who plays with her child, the teenage girls that laugh as they walk to their class, the girl who’s quiet, the woman who seems rude, you… Emma is, and as long as she is, she becomes the voice of so many rape survivors.
- All the Rage by Courtney Summers
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“You know all the ways you can kill a girl? God, there are so many.”
All the Rage (2015) presents the story of Romy Grey, a girl who becomes a social outcast because she had the courage to accuse the sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, of rape. The truth made her lose everything—friends, family, and her reputation. No one seems to believe her except for her parents or, rather, everyone in her town decides to protect the “golden boy” and his “larger-than-life” position in society. As a consequence, Romy is bullied by a group of high school kids who used to be her friends. After everything she’s endured, she tries to keep a low-profile and have as normal a life as possible. But, when a girl goes missing and news of Kellan assaulting another girl from a different town comes out, Romy must decide if she’ll speak up for a second time.
Summers perfectly depicts how rape culture manifests in society, especially in vulnerable teenage girls, as a mechanism of silence and compliance. With a powerful narrative voice and excellent writing, All the Rage is a book that teaches us the power of our voices.
- What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler
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“‘Boys will be boys’ is what people say to excuse guys when they do something awful.”
What We Saw (2015) is different from the novels presented in this article because it is not narrated from the survivor’s point of view. It is narrated by Kate Weston, who represents a society that’s coming to terms with what sexual assault really is—an act of violence—while also describing the rape culture that exists within that society. During a weekend party, something horrible happens to one of Kate’s female classmates, Stacey Stellard. A picture of Stacey passed out over the shoulder of one of their school’s star basketball players surfaces online, raising questions. Then Stacey accuses four of Kate’s classmates of rape to the authorities, and the town erupts in controversy.
Hartzler brings an important message that is often not analyzed in books that deal with sexual assault: silence as a sign of compliance. If someone witnesses sexual assault and decides not to use their voice to help the survivor, they are automatically protecting the rapist and are an accesory to rape for not preventing it from happening.
- My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
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“It looms over you, that threat of violence. They drill the danger into your head until it starts to feel inevitable. You grow up wondering when it’s finally going to happen.”
My Dark Vanessa (2020) is my current read, but I had to include it because, from the first chapter, I noticed its power and relevance. It tells the story of Vanessa Wye, a thirty-two year old woman who slowly comes to terms with the sexual abuse she suffered when she was fifteen at the hands of her teacher, Jacob Strane. The novel alternates between 2000, when the abuse took place, and 2017, when another woman accuses Strane of sexually assaulting her when she, too, was his student. Vanessa struggles with the truth because she’s come to believe that her fifteen-year-old self consented to the predatory relationship and that she was actually in love with her abuser. However, throughout the narrative, the awareness tries to surface as memories of 2000 come to her in snippets. The question is, will Vanessa be able to acknowledge the sexual abuse that’s been overshadowed by manipulation, grooming, and trauma? Or will she remain silent?
What is so powerful about My Dark Vanessa is that it demonstrates that some survivors don’t realize that they’ve suffered from sexual assault until memories come back to haunt them. It can take days, weeks, months, even years for a survivor to acknowledge the suffered abuse and cope with the trauma that it left behind. So next time you hear someone say “Why didn’t she report it sooner?” or you say “Why is she coming forward now? It happened so long ago,” understand that trauma doesn’t manifest in the same way for everyone. Make others understand as well so this cruel and apathetic narrative doesn’t have the power to overshadow survivors’ testimonies.
Writers, both male and female, survivors and non-survivors, depict the reality of rape culture and sexual assault in hopes of reaching survivors that are going through it without knowing who to reach out to, and bring awareness to the society that instigates rape culture. I hope that my little list reaches survivors, to give them the courage to speak and realize that they are not alone, and non-survivors, so they can understand the trauma behind sexual violence.