What Was She Thinking? : Notes on a Scandal: A Novel

An old maid sweetens her tea with scandal:
Barbara Covett, a sixty-ish spinster (complete with a cat), is our unreliable narrator in Zoe Heller's "What Was She Thinking: Notes on a Scandal." She befriends Sheba Hart, a much younger, upper-crust and married teacher at the London comprehensive where they both teach. When the hippie-styled Sheba begins a "love affair" with a 16-year-old pupil, Barbara documents not only the affair as related to her by Sheba, but her own intense obsession to be part of Sheba's life as well. The book is structured as Barbara's manuscript. The primary focus in the novel, surprisingly enough, isn't really the scandal but the dynamics between the two women. The scandal-Sheba's criminal affair with the minor, Steven Connolly-serves to ignite Barbara's creepy fixation with Sheba, something which Barbara carefully masks as a "relationship de chaleur," a warm friendship of reciprocal intimacy and trust. Barbara is a very lonely woman, one who "constructs an entire weekend around a visit to the launderette," and sees the beautiful Sheba as someone who could fill that loneliness. Unfortunately for her, Sheba has a much different take on their relationship, and is more invested in her infatuation and assignations with Steven. Having been unceremoniously pushed aside at a time when she most needed her friend, Barbara sees a chance to use her knowledge of Sheba's crime to her advantage resulting in an unplanned act of revenge and betrayal. Remembering her mother's axiom that evil will out, Barbara muses, "...I rather think she was wrong about that. Evil can stay in, minding its own business for eternity, if the right situation doesn't arise." For Barbara, the right situation did arise. I don't know if my having seen the 2006 film with Judi Dench (who did her usual magnificent job) predisposed me to liking this book. The film was more of a thriller with Barbara portrayed as an obvious sociopath, whereas the book is more of a drama with some psychological suspense. It also ended quite differently. At any rate, I find both the book and film to be very well done. I think Zoe Heller is a fantastic writer and I find her prose cleverly witty, perceptive, and provocative, and has fashioned a character in Barbara that's a fitting outlet for all that wit and insight. The bitter Barbara sees St. George's, the school where she and Sheba teach, as "the holding pen for Archway's pubescent proles." The acute Barbara regards the idealistic, politically-correct and so-called progressive way of teaching with disdain: "It strikes me as not coincidental that, in the same period that pedagogical ambitions have become so inflated and grandiose, the standards of basic literacy and numeracy have radically declined." (Think it's hot air? Look into the literacy level of some youths graduated from high school, and see how many can make change without aid of a machine.) In all fairness, as intelligent as our Barbara is, she's also sick in the mind. It's odd that the book succeeds with nary a sympathetic character. Barbara, I've already covered. Sheba, the center of all the sturm und drang, regresses into a love-sick teenager, rationalizing her indefensible impulses, and becomes the tabloids' deviant du jour. Sheba's husband, Richard, is a condescending fool, if we're to believe Barbara. Even their daughter, Polly, is a spoiled and vulgar brat. Steven is a user, and given his pubescent caprices, strings Sheba along for no other purpose than coital. But the author skillfully elevates the narrative from what could have easily been a farcical and lurid Jerry-Springer-like story to one that is smart, touching and disturbing all at the same time. I highly recommend both the book and the film.

The Best, So Far...:
This was an amazing book! I read a couple of books over the summer, and this one was my favorite. I love fiction..but this one just blew me away! The only detail is that I did not enjoy the ending..it was very vague..If you loved the movie..the novel is even better!! I enjoyed it because it is not all the same as the movie, so it left me in suspense and wanting to read more. It is brilliant!! I did not want it to end, I savored every page. This novel is one of my all time favorites. I highly recomend it

Dark, Twisted, and Satisfying:
What I liked best about this book was the way in which Barbara colors her account of Sheba's life, family, and affair with young Connolly with her own ideas. It's very easy to follow the story as presented and believe that everything is accurate - but one must remember that this is coming from a lonely and slightly disturbed woman who is obsessed with Sheba and must have made up much of the story to fit her own opinions and desires. This comes out in a surprising outburst by Sheba: "You really believe this stuff is the truth. You write about things you never saw, people you don't know." The result is the creepy realization that we never really knew what went on between Sheba and her young lover, or what went on in her mind, but only what Barbara has told us. Both characters are equally compelling, although I felt extremely exasperated with Sheba from time to time. In the end, I would recommend this book to just about everyone I know.

Brilliantly Written:
Notes on a Scandal is a brilliant read. Zoe Heller has such an amazing taste for words and once you read a page or two, you find yourself not able to put it down. The subject matter was fascinating, how we as society see these relationships from the outside, however, the author makes you see the whole thing from a completely different perspective. It can almost change your mind on the entire topic all together. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a brilliant masterpiece. From beginning to end, you will not be disappointed.

A:
Reading Heller's smart and endlessly readable novel is one of those rare moments in which the reader can find absolutely nothing to criticize. Combining staggering observational wit and page-turning suspense is a rarity, but Heller pulls it off with emotion and poise. Granted, the climax could have been a little bit longer, but perhaps its briefness is what makes it more human, real; what makes it more devastating and sharp. The characters are drawn so well, that you start to find parts of yourself in each of them. The author's examinations of social class and the quirks it brings are so astute, that the reader will find themselves nodding along, or even embarrassed at the honesty. Inevitably, people will be drawn to this novel by the plot. But they will stay for the world that Heller beckons us into, eventually ensnaring us in the drama and the culture of a place glimpsed only by a select few.