Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller

Notes on a Scandal: ***

As a reading experience, Notes on a Scandal can well boast to be one of the better written works in contemporary fiction, but beyond that its little else. Which is a pity because the wit and the sheer intelligence of Heller as an author which keeps you rivetted bigtime for most of the book, suddenly fades in the last few pages.

Its surprising too, for the book’s got everything working in its favour–a superbly etched out, thoroughly believable protagonist; a creative writing style which attempts to view at a “forbidden” teacher-student affair from a fresh angle and a pace which can leave many thrillers panting for breath. And yet, it fizzles out completely towards the climax.

Sans this decidedly underwhelming conclusion, the rest of the book is genuinely addictive and just as a proof of the author’s proficience–she manages to hook us with the first person narration. Any lesser author, and this would have been one unreadable monologue which I wouldn’t have read beyond the 10th page.

I won’t get overtly indulgent here and start quoting any lines from the book because that would really take away almost all the entertainment value for any prospective readers. All I’d say is that its a subtle study of the psychology of an obsessive individual and charters the graph of her relationships (particularly with one teacher whose “scandal” gives the book its name) with style and speed, and though it doesn’t quite end up as bold or sinister as the blurb or the title might suggest, its candidness does warrant one read.