What was she thinking? [Notes on a Scandal] is Zoë Heller’s second novel.
The protagonist, an unlikely older woman reveals far more than the affair of a fellow schoolteacher with an underage boy that she is reporting on, and more of herself: a lonely 'do-gooder'. Her 'story' describes her own neediness and an obsessive nature.
The gist of the story is that 40-something year old Sheba Hart, mother of two, and 'happily' married to an older man, embarks on a teaching career where she meets fellow colleague Barbara Covett, an aged spinster, as well as a student who begins to woo her. An affair begins with this 15 year-old fellow, the story tracing Barbara’s view and Sheba’s reminiscence of this futile relationship.
The book, a page-turner, creates discomfort for the reader, not only by divulging this unusual sexual relationship, but, of Barbara’s own coquettishness and ultimate betrayal of the affair. It raises issues of friendship, obsession and need in a satirical and revealing way.
A great discussion piece for book groups, and for rolling over in your mind, long after the last page. Read another review.
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