Is 'Lolita' a true story? Read along and find out about this 1955 novel

Lolita was a Russian novel written by Vladimir Nabokov in 1955, which scandalised its readers in that era. The story was based on the real-life story of a girl named Sally Horner, which was later shared in detail in a book by Sarah Weinman. Read along to know more about the Adrian Lyne movie, and how it was similar to the story of Sally Horner.

Is 'Lolita' a true story?

Lolita was later adapted into a movie in 1997 which was directed by Adrian Lyne. The movie revolved around a middle-aged literature professor who goes by the name Humbert Humbert and rents a room in the house of a widowed mother, Charlotte Haze. He eventually finds himself sexually attracted to her adolescent daughter Dolores Haze.

Following a series of events, her mother dies and Humbert pursues a romantic and sexual relationship with her and calls her by the name Lolita. The movie starred Jeremy Irons as Humbert Humbert and Dominique Swain as Dolores "Lolita" Haze. It starred Frank Langella and Dominique Swain in pivotal roles.

Sarah Weinman later authored the book The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World in which she covered the real-life story of the girl who was the inspiration behind Lolita. Sarah shared in a radio interview with Michael Enright on CBC One, that Sally was an 11-year-old lonely girl who wanted to become friends with a group of girls, and for that, she took up a dare to steal a notebook from a store in New Jersey. However, this led to the misfortune of her being noticed by a man named Frank De Salle, who was a prior rape convict.

Weinman said, “It's just that she had the tremendous misfortune to engage in this petty larceny under the watchful eyes of a man named Frank La Salle, who only two months prior had been released from prison after serving a fairly long sentence for the statutory rape of five girls between the ages of about 11 and 14. La Salle told Horner he was an FBI agent, and unless she agreed to follow his instructions and regularly report back to him, she would be sent to a juvenile reformatory. She believed him”.

Two years later, as soon as Sally turned 11, Frank asked her to take permission for a vacation from her mom, who was finding it difficult to run the house after Sally’s father killed himself and thus let her go. However, she soon realised something is wrong and contacted the FBI, in the meanwhile Sally and Frank has disappeared and the latter had moved Sally across the country. The place where he held her captive, Salle said that Sally was his daughter to the public and sexually harassed her behind the doors.

The two lived there for 21 months until a neighbour doubted their relationship, and in a turn of events found out the truth. Following which she helped Sally do a long-distance call to her home and then contacted the FBI. Sally was later reunited with her family and Frank De Salle was arrested soon after. Although life wasn’t easy for Sally after this and she was troubled in her school for that, eventually passing away at the mere age of 15, in a car accident.

Promo Courtesy: Still from Lolita trailer