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Notes on a Scandal: A Screenplay
This unsettling black comedy about private passion and public shame is based on Zoe Heller's acclaimed novel, adapted for the screen by celebrated dramatist Patrick Marber ( Closer ). When art teacher Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett) arrives at a London comprehensive she catches the keen eye of her older colleague Barbara Covett (Judi Dench). Barbara is not the only one drawn to Sheba, who then begins an illicit affair. Barbara is the keeper of Sheba's secret, but can she be trusted?
128 pages, Paperback
Published December 7, 2006
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About the author
Patrick Marber
38 books44 followersPatrick Albert Crispin Marber is an English comedian, playwright, director, puppeteer, actor and screenwriter. After working for a few years as a stand-up comedian, Marber was a writer and cast member on the radio shows On the Hour and Knowing Me, Knowing You, and their television spinoffs The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge. Amongst other roles, Marber portrayed the hapless reporter Peter O'Hanrahahanrahan in both On the Hour and The Day Today.
His first play was Dealer's Choice, which he also directed. Set in a restaurant and based around a game of poker (and partly inspired by his own experiences with gambling addiction), it opened at the National Theatre in February 1995, and won the 1995 Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy.
After Miss Julie, a version of the Strindberg play Miss Julie, was broadcast on BBC television in the same year. In this, Marber moves the action to Britain in 1945, at the time of the Labour Party's victory in the general election, with Miss Julie as the daughter of a Labour peer. A stage version, directed by Michael Grandage, was first performed 2003 at the Donmar Warehouse, London by Kelly Reilly, Richard Coyle and Helen Baxendale. It later had a production at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway in 2009.
His play Closer, a comedy of sex, dishonesty and betrayal, opened at the National Theatre in 1997, again directed by Marber. This too won the Evening Standard award for Best Comedy, as well as the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and Laurence Olivier awards for Best New Play. It has proved to be an international success, having been translated into thirty languages. A screen adaptation, written by Marber, was released in 2004, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen.
In Howard Katz, his next play, Marber presented very different subject matter: a middle-aged man struggling with life, death and religion. This was first performed in 2001, again at the National Theatre, but was less favourably received by the critics and has been less of a commercial success than some of his other work. A new production by the Roundabout Theatre Company opened Off-Broadway in March 2007, with Alfred Molina in the title role. A play for young people, The Musicians, about a school orchestra's visit to Russia, was performed for the National Theatre's Shell Connections programme in 2004, its first production being at the Sydney Opera House.
Don Juan in Soho, his contemporary rendering of Molière's comedy Don Juan, opened at the Donmar Warehouse in 2006, directed by Michael Grandage and with Rhys Ifans in the lead role.
He also co-wrote the screenplay for Asylum (2005), directed by David Mackenzie, and was sole screenwriter for the film Notes on a Scandal (2006), for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
In 2004, Marber was Cameron Mackintosh Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University.
His first play was Dealer's Choice, which he also directed. Set in a restaurant and based around a game of poker (and partly inspired by his own experiences with gambling addiction), it opened at the National Theatre in February 1995, and won the 1995 Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy.
After Miss Julie, a version of the Strindberg play Miss Julie, was broadcast on BBC television in the same year. In this, Marber moves the action to Britain in 1945, at the time of the Labour Party's victory in the general election, with Miss Julie as the daughter of a Labour peer. A stage version, directed by Michael Grandage, was first performed 2003 at the Donmar Warehouse, London by Kelly Reilly, Richard Coyle and Helen Baxendale. It later had a production at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway in 2009.
His play Closer, a comedy of sex, dishonesty and betrayal, opened at the National Theatre in 1997, again directed by Marber. This too won the Evening Standard award for Best Comedy, as well as the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and Laurence Olivier awards for Best New Play. It has proved to be an international success, having been translated into thirty languages. A screen adaptation, written by Marber, was released in 2004, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen.
In Howard Katz, his next play, Marber presented very different subject matter: a middle-aged man struggling with life, death and religion. This was first performed in 2001, again at the National Theatre, but was less favourably received by the critics and has been less of a commercial success than some of his other work. A new production by the Roundabout Theatre Company opened Off-Broadway in March 2007, with Alfred Molina in the title role. A play for young people, The Musicians, about a school orchestra's visit to Russia, was performed for the National Theatre's Shell Connections programme in 2004, its first production being at the Sydney Opera House.
Don Juan in Soho, his contemporary rendering of Molière's comedy Don Juan, opened at the Donmar Warehouse in 2006, directed by Michael Grandage and with Rhys Ifans in the lead role.
He also co-wrote the screenplay for Asylum (2005), directed by David Mackenzie, and was sole screenwriter for the film Notes on a Scandal (2006), for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
In 2004, Marber was Cameron Mackintosh Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
January 4, 2010
Sheba, a young and yummy female art teacher in a not marvelous London school begins an affair with one of her (male) pupils, Connolly, and commits the sin of enjoying it despite the fact the boy's an obvious turnip. Disgrace, public humiliation, possibly prison lie at the end of it all, but none of these things matter. The sole clouds on her horizon are her friends among the faculty, the troglodytic Fatty Hodge and the ghastly old spinster Barbara Covett. It's Barbara who's decided to write an account of the whole fiasco, supposedly to help her "friend"; in fact her narrative, which is this novel, is a document that reveals less about Sheba, her motivations and the affair than it does about Barbara herself, in particular her possessiveness, her need to dominate, and possibly (although this is a likely unjustified inference of mine) her suppressed lesbian yearnings for Sheba.
A lot of the time while I was reading this I was reminded of Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire, another novel where the commentary is more important than the main narrative, and where the point is the unwitting revealing by the commenter of who the commenter really is. Heller isn't as skilled a player as Nabokov was at this sort of game and isn't up for the kind of narrative trickstery Nabokov managed as if by reflex, and Notes on a Scandal curiously loses out through making fewer and lesser demands on the reader than Pale Fire does; yet there's a huge amount of pleasure -- and a lot of laughter -- to be derived from this book. Notes on a Scandal is unlikely to turn out to be your book of the year, but it could very well turn out to be your book of the month.
ETA: Months later, I've realized that (as have others here) I accidentally linked my review to the screenplay rather than the novel. All the above remarks apply, of course, to the book I read rather than the one I didn't . . .
A lot of the time while I was reading this I was reminded of Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire, another novel where the commentary is more important than the main narrative, and where the point is the unwitting revealing by the commenter of who the commenter really is. Heller isn't as skilled a player as Nabokov was at this sort of game and isn't up for the kind of narrative trickstery Nabokov managed as if by reflex, and Notes on a Scandal curiously loses out through making fewer and lesser demands on the reader than Pale Fire does; yet there's a huge amount of pleasure -- and a lot of laughter -- to be derived from this book. Notes on a Scandal is unlikely to turn out to be your book of the year, but it could very well turn out to be your book of the month.
ETA: Months later, I've realized that (as have others here) I accidentally linked my review to the screenplay rather than the novel. All the above remarks apply, of course, to the book I read rather than the one I didn't . . .
March 6, 2024
Não é só com o Connolly que a Sheba tem um romance secreto… tenho certeza que ela e a Bárbara tem algum trelele, só não foi escrito!!
Muito bom o livro, entretém bastante!
Muito bom o livro, entretém bastante!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 20, 2011
I loved this novel. It was so great to hear the inner machinations of such a vile mind. Barbara Covett really is Mrs Davers if Rebecca was wriiten from her perspective. This was delicious. Sometimes it's nice to meet and almost be on the side of the awful character - which is all praise to Marber who managed to make me hate and cheer for her at the same time. Send me more like this!
November 26, 2020
Scandalous, satirical and full of wit. Told by a villanius unreliable narrator who manages to at the same time be pretty hilarious and a great storyteller. It's a story of female friendship, obsession and latent repressed lesbian desire and of course an inappropriate affair with a student. It makes you question age, love, frienship and societal values.
November 14, 2011
It took me a while to get into the story, but it read quite quickly once I did get into it. It was only towards the end when I started to rethink my views of the characters - and the end is a little disturbing. Worth a read if you like a bit of psychology.
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April 30, 2008در صورت تمایل، جهت مشخصات فیلمی که بر اساس این کتاب ساخته شده است؛ میتوانید از لینک زیر استفاده بفرمایید
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465551
September 14, 2021
I have always admired teachers. They have a challenging job which can frequently be frustrating, unappreciated and unrewarding. If you have an understanding and supportive partner it’s no doubt a huge benefit, but in ‘Notes On A Scandal’, it is a luxury which teacher Barbara Covett (Judy Dench) does not have.
She is lonely with only a cat for company, and her personal and professional circumstances do not help – a gloomy basement flat in North London and a somewhat thankless job as a history teacher in the local comprehensive school with a high complement of difficult, disinterested and sometimes deprived pupils. As she watches them arriving for the first day of term, she laments ‘once we searched them for cigarettes, now we search them for knives and crack cocaine.’
Barbara finds a friend and confidante in the school’s new art teacher, Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), married to Richard (Bill Nighy) with two children - Polly, a hard to manage daughter, and son Ben, who has down syndrome. They become trusted and committed friends and there are signs of deeper affection on Barbara’s part.
Their relationship deteriorates when she accidentally comes across Sheba naked with an underage pupil at the school Christmas concert - 15 years old Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson). Sheba has succumbed to the excitement of an affair with the added spice of danger– a powerful aphrodisiac. Barbara assures her she will tell no one about it.
‘Notes On A Scandal’ is about loneliness, the search for love and a soul mate, regrets, jealousy and frustrated ambition – problems which are evident in both women. Sheba feels a failure as a teacher and out of touch with her husband. She looks back wistfully on her younger days and her passion for Siouxie and the Banshees. Barbara yearns for friendship and physical contact, and claims the only high spot in her weekends is a visit to the Launderette.
She resents Sheba’s family commitments interfering with their friendship, and eventually exposes the affair with the boy to a fellow teacher. When it reaches the headmaster’s ears, he believes Barbara has kept quiet about it and brings forward her early retirement. Sheba gets beaten up by Steven’s mother, cops a ten month jail sentence and ends up with a broken marriage. Two lives ruined.
More fighting ensues when Sheba finds highly derogatory comments about her family in a discarded diary page in Barbara’s waste paper basket. While Barbara is out, Sheba proceeds to trash her friend’s flat in an attempt to find the full diary. Upon her return, there is a fight – not just a cat fight, more like raw violence.
This is a riveting and intriguing thriller with brilliant performances by Judy Dench and Cate Blanchett. The women they play are seriously flawed, but it’s the outcome of equally serious problems. Barbara is terrified of spending her old age alone and unloved, while Sheba feels her life to be one of failure and under achievement. They are emotions which any of us can feel and they can drive us to making bad choices.
Spare a thought also for Sheba’s husband Richard, who feels that the over possessive Barbara is taking his wife away from him. He deplores the fact that Sheba didn’t confide in him with her problems, suggesting that ‘I might not have been the best husband in the world, but I was always there’. It’s such a pity his wife hasn’t felt she has plenty to be grateful for. Richard is devastated about Sheba’s affair with the younger boy and the two have a screaming match of mega intensity. She is unable to explain why she embarked on the dangerous course with the young boy.
Her affair with the Steven is both obsessive and addictive - emotions which are hard to control and which deserve understanding rather than outright condemnation. And despite her emotional problems she is still a very good mother. The movie ends with Barbara trying to start a new friendship with a lady she meets on Primrose Hill. Sheba returns to Richard and it looks as if he still values his life with her.
It’s a highly original and deeply moving film with a believable story, sensitive and realistic human insights and a terrific cast - unquestionably, British movie making at its very best.
She is lonely with only a cat for company, and her personal and professional circumstances do not help – a gloomy basement flat in North London and a somewhat thankless job as a history teacher in the local comprehensive school with a high complement of difficult, disinterested and sometimes deprived pupils. As she watches them arriving for the first day of term, she laments ‘once we searched them for cigarettes, now we search them for knives and crack cocaine.’
Barbara finds a friend and confidante in the school’s new art teacher, Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), married to Richard (Bill Nighy) with two children - Polly, a hard to manage daughter, and son Ben, who has down syndrome. They become trusted and committed friends and there are signs of deeper affection on Barbara’s part.
Their relationship deteriorates when she accidentally comes across Sheba naked with an underage pupil at the school Christmas concert - 15 years old Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson). Sheba has succumbed to the excitement of an affair with the added spice of danger– a powerful aphrodisiac. Barbara assures her she will tell no one about it.
‘Notes On A Scandal’ is about loneliness, the search for love and a soul mate, regrets, jealousy and frustrated ambition – problems which are evident in both women. Sheba feels a failure as a teacher and out of touch with her husband. She looks back wistfully on her younger days and her passion for Siouxie and the Banshees. Barbara yearns for friendship and physical contact, and claims the only high spot in her weekends is a visit to the Launderette.
She resents Sheba’s family commitments interfering with their friendship, and eventually exposes the affair with the boy to a fellow teacher. When it reaches the headmaster’s ears, he believes Barbara has kept quiet about it and brings forward her early retirement. Sheba gets beaten up by Steven’s mother, cops a ten month jail sentence and ends up with a broken marriage. Two lives ruined.
More fighting ensues when Sheba finds highly derogatory comments about her family in a discarded diary page in Barbara’s waste paper basket. While Barbara is out, Sheba proceeds to trash her friend’s flat in an attempt to find the full diary. Upon her return, there is a fight – not just a cat fight, more like raw violence.
This is a riveting and intriguing thriller with brilliant performances by Judy Dench and Cate Blanchett. The women they play are seriously flawed, but it’s the outcome of equally serious problems. Barbara is terrified of spending her old age alone and unloved, while Sheba feels her life to be one of failure and under achievement. They are emotions which any of us can feel and they can drive us to making bad choices.
Spare a thought also for Sheba’s husband Richard, who feels that the over possessive Barbara is taking his wife away from him. He deplores the fact that Sheba didn’t confide in him with her problems, suggesting that ‘I might not have been the best husband in the world, but I was always there’. It’s such a pity his wife hasn’t felt she has plenty to be grateful for. Richard is devastated about Sheba’s affair with the younger boy and the two have a screaming match of mega intensity. She is unable to explain why she embarked on the dangerous course with the young boy.
Her affair with the Steven is both obsessive and addictive - emotions which are hard to control and which deserve understanding rather than outright condemnation. And despite her emotional problems she is still a very good mother. The movie ends with Barbara trying to start a new friendship with a lady she meets on Primrose Hill. Sheba returns to Richard and it looks as if he still values his life with her.
It’s a highly original and deeply moving film with a believable story, sensitive and realistic human insights and a terrific cast - unquestionably, British movie making at its very best.
August 21, 2025
Notes on a Scandal, based on the novel by Zoe Heller
This good film benefits from the performances of the brilliant
Judi Dench, now Dame, and Cate Blanchett.
Bill Nighy is also excellent.
Dame Judi Dench portrays a teacher, Barbara, which has one year or so before retirement.
In her school, a new colleague is played by Cate Blanchett.
This younger professor is called Sheba.
She has trouble facing the noisy, often rude and belligerent students.
One day, Barbara is passing by the class where a fight is in progress.
She comes in, establishing order again and takes the two boys out for scolding.
Barbara is very friendly and amiable.
The younger teacher invites the senior to her house.
Sheba is married to a much older man, Richard aka Bill Nighy.
They have two children, a girl and a boy who is autistic.
The motion picture has a voice over and Barbara is the one telling the story or the
Notes on a Scandal
We gradually understand that Barbara has more than just a "normal, usual" interest in helping a younger, charming colleague.
Details of a previous relationship with a woman come forward.
This film is exceptional and the slow access into the intimacy of the protagonists is part of the secret of its success.
Barbara is just about sure that her friendship with Sheba is set to become ever more resplendent.
During a school play, the older teacher reserves a seat next to her for her friend.
But when the latter does not come, she starts looking.
This is one climax or the nadir of the story, depending on how you look at it.
For in a room near the school, Sheba and the fifteen year old Steven are having...sex!
The older woman is flabbergasted!
Outraged, she is facing her younger colleague and threatens:
You end this now, or I will inform the school master!
Yes, I will!
Barbara is then playing the role of the confidant.
Tell me all about it.
The boy is only fifteen, but so adult in his manner.
He insisted, sent messages and finally seduced his teacher.
If we are to take this view, of course.
It is clear now that Barbara is a lesbian, attracted to the beautiful, younger woman.
She sees this as the amazing chance to play all this adversity and trauma to her advantage.
In the end, Sheba will see that her family, husband and kids are not her happiness.
She will move with Barbara and they will live happily ever after.
Or so the latter thinks.
And all is well for a while.
Until Barbara sees the young man in the garden of her friend.
She is out of her mind with fury.
Threats, blackmail and many scenes follow.
Sheba has not ended her affair with the fifteen year old!
One of the school teachers comes to Barbara to confess that he is in love with Sheba and to ask for advice.
This is another nadir.
The disappointed woman throws the bomb...
Sheba appears to like much younger men, boys really...
They say that she has an affair with this pupil...Steven.
All hell breaks loose.
The boy's mother comes to Sheba's house and starts knocking her about.
Whore! How could you do that! And many expletives are shouted.
The authorities place the teacher under accusation.
Mass media gathers at the gate and of course, the husband is mad.
Barbara has to face consequences too.
The headmaster gives her the option to retire earlier or face the storm.
Barbara has had a very rocky, to put it mildly, relationship with her previous love interest.
The other younger teacher has gone to a solicitor who has sent restricting orders.
Barbara has threatened that woman's boyfriend and has really been more than a nuisance.
Notes on a Scandal is an exhilarating drama
This good film benefits from the performances of the brilliant
Judi Dench, now Dame, and Cate Blanchett.
Bill Nighy is also excellent.
Dame Judi Dench portrays a teacher, Barbara, which has one year or so before retirement.
In her school, a new colleague is played by Cate Blanchett.
This younger professor is called Sheba.
She has trouble facing the noisy, often rude and belligerent students.
One day, Barbara is passing by the class where a fight is in progress.
She comes in, establishing order again and takes the two boys out for scolding.
Barbara is very friendly and amiable.
The younger teacher invites the senior to her house.
Sheba is married to a much older man, Richard aka Bill Nighy.
They have two children, a girl and a boy who is autistic.
The motion picture has a voice over and Barbara is the one telling the story or the
Notes on a Scandal
We gradually understand that Barbara has more than just a "normal, usual" interest in helping a younger, charming colleague.
Details of a previous relationship with a woman come forward.
This film is exceptional and the slow access into the intimacy of the protagonists is part of the secret of its success.
Barbara is just about sure that her friendship with Sheba is set to become ever more resplendent.
During a school play, the older teacher reserves a seat next to her for her friend.
But when the latter does not come, she starts looking.
This is one climax or the nadir of the story, depending on how you look at it.
For in a room near the school, Sheba and the fifteen year old Steven are having...sex!
The older woman is flabbergasted!
Outraged, she is facing her younger colleague and threatens:
You end this now, or I will inform the school master!
Yes, I will!
Barbara is then playing the role of the confidant.
Tell me all about it.
The boy is only fifteen, but so adult in his manner.
He insisted, sent messages and finally seduced his teacher.
If we are to take this view, of course.
It is clear now that Barbara is a lesbian, attracted to the beautiful, younger woman.
She sees this as the amazing chance to play all this adversity and trauma to her advantage.
In the end, Sheba will see that her family, husband and kids are not her happiness.
She will move with Barbara and they will live happily ever after.
Or so the latter thinks.
And all is well for a while.
Until Barbara sees the young man in the garden of her friend.
She is out of her mind with fury.
Threats, blackmail and many scenes follow.
Sheba has not ended her affair with the fifteen year old!
One of the school teachers comes to Barbara to confess that he is in love with Sheba and to ask for advice.
This is another nadir.
The disappointed woman throws the bomb...
Sheba appears to like much younger men, boys really...
They say that she has an affair with this pupil...Steven.
All hell breaks loose.
The boy's mother comes to Sheba's house and starts knocking her about.
Whore! How could you do that! And many expletives are shouted.
The authorities place the teacher under accusation.
Mass media gathers at the gate and of course, the husband is mad.
Barbara has to face consequences too.
The headmaster gives her the option to retire earlier or face the storm.
Barbara has had a very rocky, to put it mildly, relationship with her previous love interest.
The other younger teacher has gone to a solicitor who has sent restricting orders.
Barbara has threatened that woman's boyfriend and has really been more than a nuisance.
Notes on a Scandal is an exhilarating drama
December 19, 2024
I REALLY, really liked this - it'd get 5 stars except I already knew a little about the story from all the hype around the film, and it made the ending have less of an impact on me. But every line was superb, just such spot-on clever writing and deep characterisation. Very uncomfortable reading, but somehow humorous at the same time.
May 20, 2017
I didn't like this book because I didn't like any of the characters. Barbara is not clear, she is envious and possessive. The other one is childish and silly. The boy...is just a boy.
December 17, 2023
Some sentences really hard to read cause it switches so fast but good book
May 13, 2008
It's true that you do have the faces of Judi Dench (Barbara) and Kate Blanchet (Sheba) in your mind if you saw the film, but that's maybe because they were so well cast. I think the book develops the characters really well, and there's lots of unintentional ironic humour in the style of the narrator's voice. I think the story walks a fine line between being critical but not too judgemental of the teacher-pupil affair; and of the motivations and intentions of the manipulative, lonely spinster. If anyone is a victim, it appears to be the younger teacher. It raises the questions of where the line can be drawn, at what age adulthood begins and what the responsibilities of each individual are. The rather sad but almost sinister intentions of the older teacher come across very well, as do her over-idealistic perception of the younger teacher's blissful marital existence. Maybe the characters of the other teaching staff are stereotypical but I suppose that's the point. The implications of class conditioning and subsequent expectations are also present.
When I saw the film, I remember wondering if my reaction to a male teacher/female pupil realtionship would've been the same.
When I saw the film, I remember wondering if my reaction to a male teacher/female pupil realtionship would've been the same.
May 19, 2017
Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller - Good, but....
This is a good book - well written, but I didn't like it.
Two main characters, both teachers: Sheba, a new member of staff and Barbara, an older, more experienced teacher. An obsessional, manipulative, stereotypical old maid, right down to the cat. She sees Sheba as a new friend and when Sheba confides a secret she finds that she can single her out, cut her off from everyone else and make her totally dependent.
Listed in the 102 Greatest Books by Women:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariannareboli...
This is a good book - well written, but I didn't like it.
Two main characters, both teachers: Sheba, a new member of staff and Barbara, an older, more experienced teacher. An obsessional, manipulative, stereotypical old maid, right down to the cat. She sees Sheba as a new friend and when Sheba confides a secret she finds that she can single her out, cut her off from everyone else and make her totally dependent.
Listed in the 102 Greatest Books by Women:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariannareboli...
February 3, 2008
I had a hard time figuring out why this book was shorlisted for the Man Booker--it's entertaining and with a gripping, engrossing style, but it doesn't seem up to further analysis. Since I'd already seen the film with Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench (totally worth watching, by the way), it was hard not to see their faces when I pictured the characters. But it was still good. An early-forties art teacher hooks up with a student, while preyed upon by a jealous older colleague. It was a fast read. We had a snow day recently, which was the perfect excuse to binge on it.
February 25, 2008
You might have heard of the movie with Judi Dench and Cate Blachett. Obviously, that movie is based on the book. The book is about a schoolteacher, Barbara, in her sixties who befriends a younger teacher, Sheba, who is new to the school. Sheba starts having an affair with a fifteen year old student (whoops) and of course there's a huge media storm over it and Barbara starts writing her memoirs over the whole ordeal, hence the title.
May 22, 2009
ok, i read the book, not the screenplay, but i'm too lazy to rectify that on this thing. i actually really liked this one. first person narration in the form of a sinister, lesbian schoolmarmy spinster. her dry, acid tongue was particularly amusing as she recants the story of the fall from grace of the art teacher who "inspired" a male student's affections (if you know what i mean).
dark, twisted, and fascinating.
dark, twisted, and fascinating.
November 17, 2010
I really liked this book. Normally, I prefer not to be "aware" of the author in the reading of a book, but the structure and author's "tricks" were precisely what made this book enjoyable to read. The plot, characters and subject were neither particularly original nor engaging, but I LOVE the way she develops the "untrustworthy" narrator. Part of a new mini genre of books that feature that. Really enjoyed analyzing it!
November 17, 2007
This book was okay. The shift in the time frame made it feel a bit jerky, and a little past halfway through, I was ready for it to be over. I felt like it was trying to build up to a dramatic ending and then when it finally did end, it wasn't anything big. I read this book for a book club, so I don't know if I would have chosen it on my own.. but I may get the movie and see if I like it better!
August 18, 2008
This was a decent story. I don't know why folks think it's a lesbian story. If so, tell me who the lesbian is. I think because I picked up this book expecting some exciting lesbian tale, I was disappointed. My perspective of the book was skewed from the start, so I was never able to embrace it for what it was.
February 27, 2010
Really enjoyed this book. Story line not one I would normally choose, but writing style made it worthwhile. The reader gets a good insight into the two main characters; however, I chose this book having seen the movie with Judi Dench, and I wonder how the author feels about the major changes made--including and entirely different ending.
February 22, 2009
A pretty good read considering I'd already seen the movie. The book deviates from the film in an undesirable way (for me): the Sheba caracter is so much more pathetic and helpless. This does give Barbara more redeeming qualities and makes her seem more genuine in caring for Sheba.
February 11, 2010
After reading "The Believers" by Zoe Heller, I decided to read her other novels. I found "Notes on a Scandal" to be compelling as well. The plot has been invented before, but the way she inhabits her characters and moves us along the inevitable is very intriguing.
November 8, 2013
An engrossing read from the beginning. It basically takes you more through the narrator's mind than the action that she is recording. It's a dark comedy, a tough self appraisal of growing old alone, and a study in poor decisions with relationships.
Well written.
Well written.
October 5, 2014
I Loved this novel, it was gripping, though I was disappointed with the end, it came to an abrupt end, & as a reader I felt the author did a poor job for the final pages, so I couldn't give it 5 stars, i read the Zoe Heller version not the screenplay.
January 7, 2015
This book is the story of Sheba, a married middle-class middle-aged pottery teacher who has an affair with a 15 year old pupil. It is told by Barbara, a sixty-ish spinster who teaches in the same school, in a voice that could easily have been written by Alan Bennett.
November 11, 2007
A child affecting a child. We all know what the movie is about, but it is another book that should be read before seeing the movie.
August 30, 2008
book is better (and different) from the movie!
November 1, 2008
The odd book where the movie version was much better.
November 5, 2008
Reread recently. Excellent!
December 9, 2008
Very disturbing ... first on the level of the narrator, who's life is completely consumed by a narcissistic pedophile and then on the level that it's the love story of a pedophile.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews