What Was She Thinking?

What a great story. Witty and caustic, I loved the narrator. The subject matter did not appeal to me before I started it, but I am so pleased I read this book. It was satisfying on many levels.

(3.5 stars, rounded down to 3)
‘Notes on a Scandal' was a brutal work, with the term ‘subverted expectations' looking as if it was coined for this book. The only thing letting down this novel is the prose, which is too light and straightforward for the dark subject matter. Granted, the book is meant to be a journal of sorts, but you are left terribly wanting after the novel has ended.
You first think that the book is about Bathsheba (Sheba) - a middle-aged pottery teacher having an affair with a fifteen-year old, and its repercussions.
But what really makes up the meat of the material is the point of view of Barbara, a senior teacher at the school at which Sheba teaches, and whose brutal, pitiful loneliness makes her a vivid character study - she ends up revealing more of her emotions and (sub?)conscious manipulations than she suspects.
This was a book that is a perfect example of ‘what-could-have-been' - it is, nonetheless, an excellent read, full of complex characters and relationships.

This is truly one of the most boring books I've ever tried to read. I didn't even finish it. This is definitely one instance where the movie was better than the book.

One of those awesome books where the narrator is creepy & terrible, but completely compelling. Dying to see the movie now, to see how such fabulous actresses as Dame Dench & Cate Blanchett interpret their nuanced roles.