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What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal: A Novel
What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal: A Novel | Zoe Heller
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize Now the Major Motion Picture "Notes on a Scandal" Schoolteacher Barbara Covett has led a solitary life until Sheba Hart, the new art teacher at St. George's, befriends her. But even as their relationship develops, so too does another: Sheba has begun an illicit affair with an underage male student. When the scandal turns into a media circus, Barbara decides to write an account in her friend's defense--and ends up revealing not only Sheba's secrets, but also her own.
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review
BookNerd9906
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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Pickpick

Yikes! This book is so well done, the characters are abhorrent, the plot is disturbing, and I couldn‘t put it down. Think Pamela Smart meets Annie Wilkes from Misery. 🤯

vivastory I haven't read the book but I LOVE the movie ( @micheleinphilly are you a fan?) 13mo
MicheleinPhilly You know it! Love both the book AND the movie! @vivastory (edited) 13mo
22 likes1 stack add2 comments
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keepingupwiththepenguins
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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Pickpick

I don‘t see why Notes On A Scandal didn‘t make a bigger splash. The subject matter is repellent, of course, but it‘s an intense and fascinating read with superbly crafted characters, each and every one of them delightfully hateful. Well paced, cleverly choreographed, guaranteed to stay with you. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/notes-on-a-scandal-zoe-heller/

Ruthiella Agree! I loved that book. Everyone is awful but still, the psychological development was utterly compelling. 2y
EvieBee I really loved this book, and wondered what that said about me LOL! I was fascinated by the confidant character. Genius. 2y
49 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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BookLineNSinker
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I love the cover of this book and I'm hoping I love the book too. Its available through Audible Plus for free until Tuesday so better get started!

EvieBee This is one of my faves. 2y
20 likes1 comment
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BeckyWithTheGoodBooks
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Pickpick

A very smart novel about obsession, loneliness, and betrayal. While the main plot is the affair between a female teacher and one of her male students, this character driven story‘s true essence is about the lies we tell ourselves to rationalize our behavior and the ways betrayal by a friend is more devastating than a lover‘s. Barbara Covett is a truly devious character and the underlying malice throughout her unreliable narration is chilling. 4⭐️

BeckyWithTheGoodBooks @TheAromaofBooks I know you‘re not tracking by tags anymore, but this was my #bookspin for January! 2y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! I still love to see what everyone is reading, so I'm always happy to get tagged!! 2y
24 likes1 stack add3 comments
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BeckyWithTheGoodBooks
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A night out for mom with her #bookspin book! After this, I‘m seeing the new Scream movie! 😱 🍿

EvieBee Loved this book! Can‘t put my finger on it exactly. 2y
19 likes1 stack add1 comment
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BeckyWithTheGoodBooks
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I am remiss on posting my January 2022 #bookspin list, but here it is. This month, my #bookspin book is tagged and my #doublespin book is Rosemary‘s Baby! I‘m excited to read both of these finally!

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2y
10 likes1 comment
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GreenGrl87
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Mehso-so

This was such an odd story to me. Some parts were startlingly real, and deeply moving but overall I thought that Barbara for one was very weird, obsessive and kind of annoying... mostly in the way she fixated on and regarded Sheba throughout the whole ordeal. I also felt like it left off poorly, and without any sort of closure which was annoying.

12 likes1 stack add
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OriginalCyn620
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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zezeki This one is excellent! 4y
TheEllieMo I have this in my TBR too 4y
51 likes3 comments
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Lcsmcat
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janeycanuck This title on this changed?!? I had no idea!! 4y
Lcsmcat @janeycanuck It‘s one of those US/UK title things, I think. 4y
janeycanuck @Lcsmcat ahhh, that makes more sense. 4y
53 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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TheEllieMo
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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I saw this film of Notes on a #Scandal years ago and the book has been languishing on my TBR mountain ever since. Perhaps I ought to make an effort to read it this year!

#NewYearNewYou @Eggs

Eggs Great choice!! 4y
31 likes1 comment
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Lcsmcat
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I think this could be the title of my memoir 🤣🤣🤣 4y
OriginalCyn620 👌🏻📚🍎 4y
41 likes3 comments
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Cinfhen
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#SeptemberSins Keeping with my theme of highlighting books from my #TBR, I offer the tagged book. High praise from @Reviewsbylola had me stacking this book way back. I believe #WhenIKissedTheTeacher is appropriate for this scandalous tale.

merelybookish I liked this book! 5y
Cinfhen Oh good!!! We usually have similar reading taste @merelybookish 💛 5y
squirrelbrain I liked it too @merelybookish ! 5y
See All 8 Comments
LeahBergen It‘s good!! 👍🏻 5y
Ruthiella This book is great! 😀 5y
zezeki I liked this one too! 5y
batsy Chiming in with more praise for this one 🍏 5y
Cinfhen I‘m on a kind-of book buying ban (imposed by hubby) until Dec 1 😜so I‘m gonna have to wait just a little bit until I pick up a copy @batsy @zezeki @Ruthiella @LeahBergen @squirrelbrain but I‘m glad to see ALL this praise!!!! 5y
92 likes6 stack adds8 comments
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Kappadeemom
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I giggle every time I hear the word “gewgaws” 😃

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Kappadeemom
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This book is 😳😳 #cray

Lel2403 The kitty is the spitting image of my Bez....spooky 5y
wanderinglynn Aw, what a cutie! ❤️🐱 5y
Ruthiella Loved this book. Every one is a terrible person but fascinating to read about! 5y
MicheleinPhilly Completely unrelated to this post but I was under the assumption that I‘ve been following you for years. Apparently not! 🤦🏻‍♀️ 5y
Kappadeemom @MicheleinPhilly I‘ve been following you for a while...weird 😂 5y
41 likes3 stack adds5 comments
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BritanyA
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: This book was so much more interesting than I thought it would be. The writing is incredible and looking forward to picking up more from this author.

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Reviewsbylola
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I love this edition and I LOVE this book. It would likely make it on my list of favorite books of all time.

#mrsrobinson #marchintothe70s

Cinfhen Really??!!?! I guess I should probably read it!! 5y
Reviewsbylola It‘s a fantastic book! I think you‘d like it. @Cinfhen 5y
MicheleinPhilly YES! I should re-read this one. I loved it so much. 5y
starlight97 Sounds interesting 😮 5y
emilyhaldi Guess I need to read it! 5y
89 likes5 stack adds5 comments
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AvidReader25
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Pickpick

Barbara, a cranky spinster tells the story of her fellow teacher, Sheba, who has an affair with her underaged student. The unreliable narrator reminded me so much of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Both have an unhealthy obsession with someone else and an inflated sense of their importance. It‘s a well-written page turner.

“You never appreciate what a compost your memory is until you start trying to smooth the past events into a rational sequence.”

Lcsmcat I loved this, and the movie starring Judi Dench. 5y
mreads 🐕❤ 5y
batsy What @Lcsmcat said! 5y
AvidReader25 @Lcsmcat @batsy I loved that too! I normally read the book first, but I don‘t think this list anything in reading it after seeing the film. 5y
29 likes4 stack adds4 comments
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KateFulfordAuthor
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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Pickpick

#inlaws #reviews #others

A pitch black story which plays with the readers‘ sympathies, making you constantly reassess the characters, their motives and behaviour. With no clear ‘good‘ or ‘bad‘ characters, this dark and difficult story is far less sensational than many recent ‘psychological thrillers‘, but is all the more disturbing for that.

81 likes9 stack adds
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Lcsmcat
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Steven Connolly could tell how his life got worse #whenIkissedtheTeacher, but Sheba‘s didn‘t get better either! #ABBAinAugust

Cinfhen This book has really peaked my curiosity 6y
KarenUK @cinfhen did you see the movie? Judi Dench is so creepy in it! 6y
Cinfhen No @KarenUK but I heard she was 👌🏼according to @batsy 6y
See All 9 Comments
emilyhaldi This book/movie is getting a lot of love today! 6y
Lcsmcat @KarenUK @Cinfhen This is one case where the movie is as good as the book! 6y
Reviewsbylola I absolutely loved this book and I thought the movie adaption was well done too. I‘ve been meaning to read Heller‘s other books. 6y
batsy @Cinfhen @KarenUK She's brilliant in it ❤️ 6y
Meredith3 I gotta check this out ! 6y
Meredith3 Wait I feel like I read this. @Reviewsbylola did we read this for our book club awhile ago and watch the movie at someone‘s house? 6y
55 likes3 stack adds9 comments
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Kitta
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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Been reading a bit without updating here, oops! My parents sent me some crime and sci-fi and I finished those super fast before starting on Notes on a Scandal. Enjoying it so far but so angry at the characters sometimes! I guess that‘s to be expected given the subject matter.

No book photos today, so here‘s my new pusheen mug! 😻

rubyslippersreads ❤️❤️❤️ Pusheen! 😻 6y
dylanisreading So cute! 6y
Jinjer 💕💕💕 6y
22 likes3 comments
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BunnieBleaux
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really dug this one! Last year I fell in love with morally shitty female protagonists and this book totally fell into that category.





#zoeheller #bookreview ##marchmadness #notesonascandal

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Christine11
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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For #MoviesAnyone? I thought I‘d pick Notes on a Scandal because I love the book which I think is quite underrated and the movie version with Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett was fantastic too ! 💖💛💖
#NEWYEARREADS

batsy Yes! I loved both the book and movie. Judi Dench was just stellar. 6y
jhod I also loved this so much! I want to re read 6y
Supersteph Ooh, I read this last year, didn‘t know there was a movie...definitely going to watch this! Thanks! 6y
See All 8 Comments
Christine11 @batsy She was so good in it wasn‘t she ?! 😊💗 (edited) 6y
Christine11 @jhod I was thinking of rereading it too - it‘s been years since I did and it‘s so great 😊 6y
Christine11 @Supersteph You‘re welcome 💕 I really hope you like the movie! I thought it was great and very true to the book 😊 6y
Supersteph @Christine11 I‘ve just watched the movie...so good. Judi Dench is top. 👌🏻 6y
Christine11 @Supersteph I‘m so glad you liked it ! Judi Dench is just the best 😊💕 6y
37 likes2 stack adds8 comments
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khakipantsofsex
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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Pickpick

"There are certain people in whom you can detect the seeds of madness - seeds that have remained dormant only because the people in question have lived relatively comfortable, middle class lives. They function perfectly well in the world, but you can imagine, given a nasty parent, or a prolonged bout of unemployment, how their potential for craziness might have been realized."
4/5 ⭐️

5 likes1 stack add
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khakipantsofsex
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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✨First post on Litsy! (Even though @thebookdiviner told me to join like 8 months ago)✨
Hoping to get a bit of reading done today! Notes on a Scandal is my current read because I really frikkin badly want to see the movie.

thebookdiviner sing HALLELUJAH 7y
khakipantsofsex @thebookdiviner 🙌HA🙌LLE🙌LU🙌JAH🙌 7y
5 likes2 comments
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ashlinisme
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This book warranted the biggest, hardest eye rolls of my life. Tony Stark level eye rolls. #obsession #maybookflowers

11 likes1 stack add
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ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled
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My favorite #unreliablenarrators !! #maybookflowers There is so much "Oh no, she didn't!" in this book.

Reviewsbylola Such a good book. I went out and bought The Believers, hoping I would love it as much, but I haven't read it yet. 7y
Cinfhen Sounds like my type of read!!! 7y
Ubookquitous Excellent choice! 7y
37 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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MissBiancaB
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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Pickpick

A great slow burn. Very enjoyable.

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Sandwavesandbooks
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9 likes1 stack add
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Megabooks
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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Mehso-so

3🌟This book about a Mary Kay Letourneau-like situation in England has several things going for it: an unreliable narrator and a great twist at the end. BUT I was hoping for the narrator to be the woman in the relationship instead of a friend, and (embarrassed to admit) more lurid details would have been fun. 😳😜 Anyway, glad I read it but won't revisit.

ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled This is one of my favorite books. But Im a total sucker for an unreliable narrator, and this book has that in spades. 😜 8y
Gulfsidemusing Just an average read for me, too. 8y
53 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Megabooks
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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Anyone here get judgmental about other's bookshelves? 🤔🤓

BkClubCare Ha! I don't have any IRL friends with bookshelves. That's why I need Litsy! 8y
LitHousewife Only if I'm already feeling judgy about the person. 😀 8y
CherylDeFranceschi Kinda. 😔 8y
See All 10 Comments
Riveted_Reader_Melissa If I do come across someone with actual books out at their house, I do look...but with so much hidden in Kindle's these days it wouldn't tell you near as much as it used to. 8y
AliBG Totally. 8y
Floresj I feel like this is a safe place to admit that I completely do.😉 8y
LauraBrook Always. It's fun! 😏 8y
Kathrin Absolutely!!! 😆 8y
LizzyM I always look...but I never usually make too much of the content of the shelves in terms of judging the person though, unless it is extreme. Or at least I think I don't? My usual motivation for looking is to look for books I might want to read! 🤓 And conversation of course. 8y
66 likes2 stack adds10 comments
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EnidBiteEm
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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Pickpick

Scandalous (yes,really). This novel is narrated by a teacher ... I'm SO glad I don't work with her or the person she observes in her notes (at least I hope not?!), but Notes was such a fast/gripping read it's convinced me to enter the #bookisholympics late. Maybe a silver?

Joanne1 I read this recently and loved it. Think it might be close to the best book I've read this year. And I too am a teacher. 8y
EnidBiteEm @Joanne1 I wondered what other teachers would make of it. Such reprehensible characters, and yet I wanted to know more. What did you think of the ending? I could not really see how they'd survive beyond a few months ... 8y
Joanne1 @EnidBiteEm oh I think they will destroy one another don't you? But they kinda deserved each other didn't they? Have you seen the film? It's quite different but also very good. They changed the ending in a very interesting way. 8y
EnidBiteEm @Joanne 1 I will have to see if I can get hold of a copy. I thought Sheba might become completely submissive, but I couldn't see how homelessness wasn't on the cards, although it was difficult to imagine either coping with that situation. 8y
4 likes4 comments
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Minervasbutler
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Pickpick

Starts off as one of those tales told by a narrator so unreliable she borders on the delusional, resulting in painful if hilarious black comedy. Towards the end it deepens snd becomes poignantly moving. Very good indeed.

LeahBergen I really enjoyed this one 8y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled On my Favorite Books Ever list. I love unreliable narrators and this one really delivers. 8y
39 likes9 stack adds2 comments
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Joanne1
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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Pickpick

Deeply troubling, populated by truly wicked, despicable yet unnervingly real characters and searingly written. I sat up much later than I should have, riveted to every word.

19 likes3 stack adds
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Joanne1
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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After a morning of full on thesis writing, it's time for a break. And this book is giving me a education in the English language.

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Joanne1
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller
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First of two new books I started today. Oh the voice is just so perfect.

22 likes1 stack add
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RandomBookMuses
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Pickpick

Reviewed by Pegasus https://goo.gl/Xv2OxQ

6 likes2 stack adds
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Joanne1
Notes on a Scandal | Zoe Heller

Just listened to Paula Hawkins (of Girl on a Train fame) talking about her love of this book. Instantly jumped to the top of my to read list. Love hearing others talking passionately about the books that moved them. What's yours?

5 likes2 stack adds
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Kps15
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One of my favorite books ever. When do get more from Zoe Heller?