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

Rating:
Summary: Finest British prose style for decades
Review: The precision and intelligence of Zoe Heller's prose style is wonderfully satisfying, and it is through this style that Heller is able to give her narrator Barbara such sharply witty observations of her fellow teachers and in general of the flabby pretentiousness of so many self-admiring contemprorary civic attitudes. But it's not all wit. Barbara makes wrenchingly accurate reports on the state of spinsterbood. It's as if Gissing's ODD WOMEN have generated a grandchild with Gissing's brilliant sociological insight and determination to articulate it.

Of course nearly all the reviews have made the point that Barbara the narrator is unstable and unreliable. But if she is, she is so because she hopes so much (and why should we say 'too much' when in fact she does achieve her ambition of forming a close relationship with Sheba?). Barbara knows she hopes. So she isn't really unreliable, she isn't really unstable. She is a good deal more sane than, for instance, the head of her comprehensive school, who is a limp Blairite driven by utterly insensitive ambition. I believe, actually, that Barbara is also a good deal more sane than most of her reviewers. Yes, sometimes one is reminded of Kingsley Amis, but Barbara has a much more elegant mind than Amis. Plus she is a realist rather than a comedian. I personally wished for much more of Barbara's bracing social comment.

As for the scandal of an unworldly pottery teacher falling for a working-class fifteen-year-old sexist boy, well, really, there is no scandal except perhaps the scandal that there are readers, especially in the USA, who think that such a relationship is scandalous and who think that the boy not the teacher is the victim.

Heller's is a potentially major talent and anyone who is genuinely interested in the welfare of the English language will rejoice that at last we have a novelist who writes this well.

Rating:
Summary: Sharp and Insightful
Review: This book is a cleverly crafted psychological study of several people, all of whom are unaware of just how loathsome they really are. Clear and dark portrait of the tendency to be self-delusional in the perception of one's own behavior. Very dark, very funny.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books this year
Review: This book is highly recommended.
In a nutshell, Barbara Covett, is a 60ish spinster school teacher... opinionated, intelligent, and very lonely. She becomes good friends with Sheba Hart, a beautiful, popular, 42 year old new teacher who had just arrived at Barbara's school. Sheba has a scandalous affair with one of her young students, and the story is told from Barbara's point of view as the narrator.
When I heard about the plot of this book, I have to admit I wasn't all that interested in reading it. But I picked up the book and read the first page and found it utterly compelling and an engrossing and intelligent read.
Part of the brilliance of this novel is the way you learn about both characters by listening to the narrator, the aptly named Barbara Covett. All is not what it seems, and the author does a wonderful job making these characters very real people.
Heller does a wonderful job showing how single women relate to those married with children, and how people deal with loneliness and routine. She also shows how we make rationalizations about ourselves and our actions in order to justify our beliefs that we are good, honorable people.
I highly recommend this novel for any book clubs. It would make for a great discussion, and I think that everyone is going to have a different opinion about each of these two women. Not only is this novel an intelligent read, but it's a fun one also. This book is a page-turner that leaves you thinking about it, and wanting to talk about it with your friends..what more can you ask for?

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Thought Provoking Reading
Review: This is a great novel if you're looking for something a little saucy and out of the ordinary. The characters are undeniably flawed, which is what makes them so fascinating. There are some really funny parts, as well as some heart wrenching moments. Sheba's teenaged daughter is hilarious and written very well. I would highly recommend this book for the beach, airplane, or similar situation.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific Story
Review: This is a very witty novel. It reminded me at times of 'How to be Good' and 'My Fractured Life.' It is a terrific story.

Rating:
Summary: Spot on observations on motivations, intentions and chance
Review: This is an all-consuming novel written in that proper, articulate British English that's also very accessible. I can't tell if the author has a broad understanding of human nature, or if she and I just share a common perspective, but so many passages caused me to put the book down in amazement, to come across a truth so simply articulated. Heller depicts emotions and motivations very subtly but entirely, across characters. Anyone who's survived an indiscretion will recognize and reflect on the unfortunate delusions with which we buffer our delicate egos.

Rating:
Summary: English Humor Americans Will Enjoy
Review: To take a topic that is ultra taboo and turn it into something funny and yet dramatic, now that takes talent. "What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandal" has a decidedly English flair to its writing style but will be as appealing to American audiences as "Running With Scissors" and "My Fractured Life." Author Zoe Heller has a tremendous talent in dealing with strong subject matter (a teacher's affair with a student) from a gentle and comedic view. An excellent book and highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: as good as its cover...
Review: Truly wonderful!! Heller's a master at character development. Not only does she weave these characters and personalities throughout the novel but she makes you care for each one of them--regardless of all their flaws.

The story's universal theme of love, loneliness and the search for happiness in odd and unorthodox places is carried throughout the novel. The plot is tight and resolves beautifully.

I had to give 4 stars because Heller used a simile that went far beyond cliche-avoidance. It sounded like "a thumb being dragged across a pane of glass." What the heck does that sound like and should I get out of my chair to go find out? Is the sound the same on all glass regardless of density and temperature? What if the pressure of my thumb makes a different sound from my four-year-old's thumb? And who makes a habit of dragging a thumb across a plane of glass? And, I must say, I can't imagine anything sounds like a thumb being dragged across a pane of glass except, you guessed it, a thumb being dragged across a pane of glass. Least of all a cat in a travel cage. OK, you get my point...

But do yourself a favor and read the book anyway!

Rating:
Summary: Careless Love
Review: What a good book! Too bad it takes place in England. It seems to me there was a case similar in USA where the teacher was jailed, resumed affair upon release, became pregnant, was jailed again. The boy's mother was vexed but no one could keep them apart. Interesting is that all Heller's characters have their motivations revealed. However, they do seem rather shallow people all trying to put their own little goals into action, especially the main teacher-lover. But she is usually in a daze and becomes a stalker when she is dumped. The wisest one may be the angry daughter. Who wouldn''t be angry living in the midst of such oafs?

Rating:
Summary: The perils of voyeurism
Review: What Was She Thinking (don't you love the title?) is a double character study that is utterly engrossing. It examines the dangers of voyeurism, leaving readers feeling that's exactly what we're guilty of ourselves as we voraciously keep turning the pages.
Barbara slowly befriends Sheba, another woman in the school where they are both teachers, and equally slowly Sheba reveals details of her relationship with a 15yo student. Through author Heller's piercing writing, the characters of both women are more fully revealed - and by the end we feel as if our own inner secrets have been probed with a dental pick.
Superb.