Reading list: scandals

At the Independent, Alice-Azania Jarvis came up with a reading list on scandals.

The contemporary novel to make the list:

Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller [US title: What Was She Thinking?]

A murky tale of middle-class scandal from Zoë Heller.

When Sheba, an art teacher, begins an affair with a 15-year-old pupil, she confides in Barbara, an older colleague and friend. But Barbara's intentions are flawed; she uses her position to render Sheba entirely dependent, a solution to her own loneliness and obsessions. It is also the subject of an excellent film adaptation starring Cate Blanchett.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Also see Henry E. Scott's five best books about scandals.

--Marshal Zeringue