Sarah Vaughan (2) (1972–)

I love Sarah Vaughan's books so Little Disasters was a must read for me. I found it to be a compelling and thought-provoking domestic drama.

It's the story of two women. Liz is a doctor. She's worked hard, but as happens to many women, having children has slowed her career prospects down and given her severe mummy guilt. Jess is a stay at home mother, with a new baby as well as two older boys, and Liz sees her as the perfect, calm, in control parent. But when Jess takes her baby daughter to show more hospital with an injury that is hard to explain, Liz starts to see beyond her perfect façade, and begins to question what's lurking beneath.

This is a book that throws up many moral and ethical dilemmas, not least of which is what do you do if you don't trust your friend and you have to make a difficult decision to either believe her or follow procedure? Where do your loyalties lie?

I found myself clenching my teeth a lot in a kind of 'eek' expression whilst I was reading. There were plenty of moments where I was empathising with Jess in particular. Motherhood is an amazing and wonderful thing, but it definitely heightens the paranoia and the worry, especially if you are that way inclined anyway. And it's far from easy when a little person relies on you for everything. I felt that there was a real empathy in the writing, and I certainly felt that the things that happened could happen to any one of us. That moment when we take our eye off the ball and lives are potentially changed forever.

I enjoyed the unexpected parallels that the author drew between Liz's childhood and Jess's situation and I thought the plotting was tight. It's not a book of huge revelations, although the author did manage to get one or two in there. It's more of a thoughtful and intelligent read, one that puts not only the characters, but also the reader, in a quandary.

I was expecting something a little more explosive perhaps than I got, given the subject matter and I found it to be measured and level in tone, without quite as many emotional ups and downs as I thought there would be. Having said that, this is a book about feelings and the trials of parenting rather than it being a thriller and I thought that Vaughan tackled a difficult subject with her usual aplomb and sensitivity. It's a great read. show less

Dame Eleanor Kingman is about to turn 70 and will celebrate with a lavish party at her new Cornish home. Eleanor is a popular children’s author and as well as her family and friends, the party will be attended by a team who are making a documentary about her which is threatening to turn into more of an exposé, as Eleanor has a secret, one which somebody seems determined to reveal. Eleanor’s not the only one with a secret though. Her three daughters are all hiding something too.

This is a show more book packed full of secrets and lies. It’s told from various viewpoints which helps to build up the story as a whole and if there aren’t any particularly likeable characters (with the exception perhaps of Eleanor’s daughter, Gilly, who has something of an awakening – go Gilly!) they are definitely interesting and multi-layered. I thought the windswept setting by the Cornish cliffs was ideal and depicted perfectly to give the impression of somewhere isolated yet accessible via cliff paths, offering ways onto Eleanor’s estate for guests who might not be quite welcome.

The premise of Based on a True Story grabbed me the moment I heard about it. The intrigue I was expecting never fully materialised though, which I felt was because there was rather more telling than showing. I was still compelled to keep reading to find out what the big reveals were going to be and I do love Sarah Vaughan’s writing (a new book by her is always something to celebrate for me). Overall, this is a good twisty read about a dysfunctional and complicated family. show less

I'm what you might call a fan of Sarah Vaughan's writing. I read The Art of Baking Blind when it first came out and the same with The Farm at the Edge of the World. I loved both of them so when I heard she had a new book coming out I was eager to get my hands on a copy. What I didn't expect was something so different to her previous books, but what I did expect was Vaughan's usual intelligent and insightful writing style and this certainly shone through in Anatomy of a Scandal.

The scandal in show more question is picked apart with a fine-toothed comb, examined and reconstructed under the careful eye of Kate, the barrister prosecuting MP James Whitehouse as he stands accused of a heinous crime. We follow Kate through the life of the trial and how she deals with it. Her part of the story is told in the first person and yet we also hear from Sophie, James's wife, and James himself in a smaller way, and their parts are in the third person. I liked this change in perspective as I think it helped to experience the courtroom tension through the eyes of Kate herself.

And the courtroom scenes do make up a fair bit of the novel. I loved them. I loved how it all unfolded and how Kate approached her case, her opinions of the jurors, her questioning, summing up. And when the verdict was due I felt that flutter in my tummy, that moment of anxiety as I wondered which way it would go. I knew that I wouldn't be able to help my eyes drifting along the pages and picking out the words so I covered them with my hand. I wanted to know the verdict when the characters did, to feel that elation or dismay along with them.

This is such an accomplished book. I have said before when reviewing Vaughan's work that she writes books that cannot be rushed. This is true of Anatomy of a Scandal. There is a gradual build up, some might say a slow start that pulls the reader in to the lives of these characters, but then it totally engrossed me and I found I didn't want to put it down.

There are back stories from Oxford where some of the characters were students in the 1990s, tales of privilege, wealth, entitlement. These sections are interweaved into the modern day story and provide contrast and an understanding of how they got where they are in the current day. And the storyline as a whole is so relevant, so current, so inspired.

There are no great surprises here. Even the twist was one that I guessed but I don't think it's meant to be a book that takes the reader by surprise, more one that creeps up and when you turn that final page you do so with a sort of quiet 'wow' and a feeling of having read something rather special. I think it's safe to say that I would read anything Sarah Vaughan writes and feel certain that I would be getting a cracking good read, no matter what subject matter she chooses. Anatomy of a Scandal is one to watch in 2018 for sure. show less

"Is parenthood meant to be this bleak?"

Little Disasters is a fast-paced domestic drama about a group of women (Jess, Liz, Mel and Charlotte) who meet in a pre-natal class and become friends as they ago through the trials of birth and motherhood together. A decade later, Jess's young daughter, Betsey, ends up in the hospital with a suspicious skull fracture and Liz is the on-call pediatrician who treats her at the ER. When troubling details about the injury emerge, Liz starts to question show more everything she knows not only about her friend but also herself, and the truth of what really happened could either save or ruin them both.

"This is what being a mother is all about... Letting your children take little steps until they abandon you completely and you are left quite alone."

The mystery of what happened to baby Betsy kept me guessing and there are a few twists along the way I didn't see coming but what I liked most about this book was the way Vaughan depicts motherhood. All of the characters struggle in some way with what being a mother means, whether it's balancing work and home, being a stay-at-home mom who's expected to get everything right or dealing with infertility, postpartum depression, marriage issues or special needs kids. Their challenges and frustrations are depicted honestly and I felt for these women as they tried to navigate being true to themselves while doing the best by their kids because let's be honest - it's a conflict most moms (myself included!) can relate to.

"I want to remind us all to cherish this. These highs of motherhood that sustain us; that buoy us up when we're exhausted, or anxious, or it all feels like a bit of a struggle; these perfect, necessary moments."

If you're looking for a page-turner with well-developed characters and a different kind of mystery, Little Disasters is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books and the author for an advanced ecopy of this book to review. show less