This is, at its core, a novel about obsession; the narrator’s for her young colleague Sheba Hart, and Sheba’s for the fifteen year old pupil with whom she is having an affair. There is something slightly lunatic and sad about these two women; At 60, spinsterly, closeted lesbian (closeted, or not inclined to admit it in her notes, or maybe just unaware of her own tendencies, it’s cleverly left for the reader to judge) Barbara pins all her hopes of finding a connection, of no longer being alone, on a married woman who is already having an potentially disastrous affair. Sheba, meanwhile, devolves from naïve and vulnerable to being a blinkered, romantic idiot, ignoring the danger of imprisonment, the likely breakdown of her family, even the damage she is doing to Stephen, the boy whose crush on her withers into casual, almost reluctant sex.

Even though there is little redeemably likeable about snide, bitter Barbara or the object of her attention, there’s nothing off-putting about the story itself, which plays out like a train-wreck in slow motion, neatly written in Barbara’s convincing yet distancing voice; the reader might feel pity for her, or dislike her intensely, but we cannot help but agree with her astonishment at Sheba’s actions. After a while, her affront becomes our affront, as we are drawn into the minutiae of concern about every aspect of the affair.

A very readable, if bleakly gossipy book. I had to turn off the movie halfway through, because I could not stand to watch Dame Judi Dench very cannily portray Barbara – I like Judi Dench too much to associate her with the character, and she was doing an unsurprisingly fantastic job of it, it was undoubtedly brilliant casting – but disassociating her from the character made the story easier to read than to watch. It gets under your skin, this one, reminding us that humans are fragile and foolish and inclined to be unkind when we are thwarted. ( )

This is a rather sad book. I felt that Barbara the narrator and main character is a rather pathetic and sad person. The book seems to indicate that we humans are lonely and that we are doomed to look for affection in all the wrong places. Barbara tends to look for exclusive friendships where she is the dominant person. Sheba embarks on an affair with her under aged student. Steven, the students also seems very pathetic. It is just very sad. ( )

Story of teacher having affair with student - subject matter not really my cup of tea. But I did relate to the lonely, single teacher who befriends her.

Review for the Audio CD (Abridged).

The CD is read by Anna Massey, whose voice, while sometimes a bit upper crust and annoying, is totally suited to the part of Barbara as narrator. The cloying, patronising character of this 60 something teacher oozes out of the speakers as she tells the story of her much younger teacher friend, Sheba.
Sheba is a pottery teacher with an uninspiring home life, who falls for the whiles of 15 yr old Connolly when he does little more than show an interest in art. We know from the start that this is all going to end in tears, the question is just how and when.
I enjoyed the insight into the staff room squabbles and interactions but the strength of this story is the way it is told by Barbara, who then becomes as much a character in the tale as Sheba is.
Cleverly done. I may well read the book at a later date. ( )

Notes on a Scandal is another book that was damaged by my having seen the movie first. this is an intriguing book, full of twisted ideas of love. but the narrator's obvious despair and loneliness overshadows much of the story and whole sections felt unneccesary. where the book wobbled, the film excelled. this is worth reading, it's just not really a page turner. ( )