I think Frieda McFadden plagiarized “My Dark Vanessa” in “The Teacher”
The Teacher came out 4 years after My Dark Vanessa was published, and the similarities are too much to overlook in my opinion. In The Teacher, Addie is a lonely girl who has fallen out with a friend the year before due to his new relationship. She joins a student literature magazine with a goth-ish student run by a predatory English teacher. In My Dark Vanessa, Vanessa is a lonely girl who fell out with her roommate due to a relationship. She joins the creative writing club run by a predatory English teacher, also with a singular goth student being the only other attendee. Both girls proceed to become prey for the English teacher. Both girls later find out that they’re not the only victims.
I think the most damning evidence is that both books contain the EXACT QUOTE: “it’s just my luck, that when I finally find my soul mate, she’s 15 years old.”
I searched online for ANYTHING pointing out the plagiarism, but all I could find was people calling The Teacher a knockoff of My Dark Vanessa. While I agree, I think it goes beyond a simple knockoff. I think Frieda McFadden plagiarized a victim’s novel about the horrific experience of being groomed to write a formulaic thriller.
by do-not-1