The Real Story That Inspired “Lolita” Is Somehow More Disturbing Than The Book
In 1948, 11-year-old Sally Horner was kidnapped and held hostage for two years as her kidnapper drove her around the United States
Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov wrote the novel Lolita in 1955. Narrated by a middle-aged man named Humbert Humbert, the book tells the story of his obsession with a 12-year-old girl named Dolores Haze (Lolita) and the sexual relationship he forces her into. In the novel, Dolores eventually escapes Humbert, who has an emotional breakdown. In time, when they next see each other, Dolores is pregnant but suffering financially. Despite her difficult circumstances, she has overcome her past and made a life for herself. There’s a glimpse of a better future.
Florence “Sally” Horner was abducted in 1948 by a man who repeatedly sexually assaulted her for two years. She was finally rescued only to be victim-blamed by the media, and she died tragically two years later — at age 15. Unlike Dolores, Sally Horner wasn’t given the time to move on from the trauma she experienced as an adolescent.
Sally’s story and Lolita have a lot in common. They took place in nearly the exact same year, and the girls were…
