Top ten books about betrayal

Karin Altenberg was born in Sweden and moved to Britain to study in 1996. Her first novel, Island of Wings, was shortlisted for the Scottish book of the year award and longlisted for the Orange prize for fiction. Her latest novel is Breaking Light.

One of Altenberg's top ten books about betrayal, as shared at the Guardian:

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

Muriel Spark’s Calvinist influence is evident in the story of Miss Jean Brodie, a captivating Edinburgh schoolteacher with an almost godlike authority and fascist leanings. Spark’s superb wry humour and elegant phrasing carry this otherwise rather sinister tale of Brodie’s manipulation of her special girls - her créme de la crème – and her pupil Sandy’s betrayal.

Read about the other books on the list.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is among Megan Abbott's five most dangerous mentors in fiction, the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five top books on teaching and learning and Ian Rankin's six best books. Miss Jean Brodie is one of John Mullan's ten best teachers in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue