I was completely engrossed by this. The character of Barbara is so wonderfully written. We meet her in the latter years of her life, she is used to her own company and has a very quiet structured life. When Sheba begins to offer her friendship, it opens her up to all the emotions that come with being someone's confidant. Sheba is much more care-free and is swept up by an infatuation that will test each of the characters involved but most importantly that of Sheba and Barbara's friendship.This book is compelling, thought provoking and has some delicious bits of sarcasm. It's ultimately a study of how people justify the things they do, regardless of the people around them.A truly brilliant book.

'Notes on a Scandal' by Zoe Heller (Penguin, 2003) is a compelling and beautifully written novel about forbidden relationships and stretched friendships, both verging on the point of breaking.

p.185 "You think children are my immortality? They're not me, you know. And if life is meaningless, bearing children is just giving birth to more meaninglessness..." Here is a witty story of the intelligent and dark Barbara denuding herself through her sly diary of her obsession & misplaced loyalty for Sheeba. Barbara pathological delusion transcend her equivocal narration of the seamy affair between schoolteacher Sheeba and one of her pupil to expose her warped mind. This book is packed with cunning and strikingly devious observations which make it an indisputably good read if the Freudian exploration of the human mind is of any interest to you.

Dark fiction on a teacher over stepping the mark. Secrets can lead to danger and this is the case in this novel when a forbidden relationship develops.

Sheba has achieved notoriety as a teacher who seduced one of her male students, leading to a lengthy affair. Recounted by her friend and colleague, Barbara, Notes on a Scandal tells the story of two unusual relationships; that of Sheba and her teenage Romeo, as well as her growing reliance on the character we rely on for the story. This isn’t always an easy read. The subject matter, though fictional in this case, can rightly make many people feel uncomfortable. Coupled with the apparent disregard that Sheba has to her role as educator, it is sometimes unbelievable that no-one would step in, let alone be willing to collude with her. Were it down to this aspect, I would have given the book *** at most. However, Zoe Heller manages to use her unusual narrative perspective to twist the story. We’re used to reading books in the first or third person; but what we’re not used to is having the third person narrator be someone who was such an influential part of the story. This is what I really enjoyed about Notes on a Scandal. For the part Barbara played in the story-line, we can’t be guaranteed her reliability in the telling or in her motives for befriending a pretty unlikable character such as Sheba. This leads to the question of whether anyone is as we think they are and, therefore, whether we can trust them. This is a fairly short novel, of a little over 200 pages, but it moves at a pretty brisk pace and succeeds in not dragging, but also at not having to rush the conclusion in a couple of unsatisfying pages. There is a film adaptation, staring Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench, which I hope to watch now I’ve finished the book. I’m unsure how it will transfer into a different medium and, having looked at the Wiki synopsis of the film plot, I’m already struck by the differences, so I’m interested to see whether this succeeds.