"Had I done to Dolly, perhaps, what Frank Lasalle, a fifty-year-old mechanic, had done to eleven-year-old Sally Horner in 1948?"—Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita

Even if you've read and reread Lolita, you likely don't remember this casual aside in Vladimir Nabokov's notorious novel. And yet the real-life case that is referenced—the 1948 abduction of Sally Horner by a middle-aged man posing as an FBI agent, and their subsequent trip across the country—doubtlessly influenced much of the controversial modern classic. In this gripping true-crime narrative/literary investigation, Sarah Weinman compassionately reveals Sally Horner's tragic tale, exploring just how much Nabokov borrowed from her harrowing plight. Delving into the literary and social significance of the novel, Weinman adds groundbreaking, heartbreaking context to a cultural phenomenon.