What Was She Thinking?
“Nadia May is Barbara—self-deluding, jealous, controlling, snide though always civil. May gives voice to subordinate characters as well…Dame Judi Dench plays Barbara in the movie (Notes on a Scandal); it’s difficult to imagine she does it any better than this audio portrayal. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
AudioFile
Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
An Electric Literature Pick of 9 Toxic Friendships in Literature
A London Guardian Pick of the Best Books of the 21st Century
A complex psychological portrait framed as a wicked satire, a story of passion and repression, mercy and betrayal
Schoolteacher Barbara Covett has led a bitter, lonely life as a self-made careerist. Sheba Hart is the ethereal, inexperienced new pottery teacher at St. George's school. When Barbara hears of Sheba's problems in the classroom, her sympathy soon leads to friendship and confidence.
But Barbara is unprepared for the secret she will learn: that Sheba has begun a passionate affair with an underage male student. Barbara's confusion, disapproval, and jealousy are helpless to prevent the coming disaster.
When the story comes to light and Sheba falls prey to the inevitable media circus, Barbara decides to write an account in her friend's defense, an account that reveals not only Sheba's secrets but her own. What results is a complex psychological portrait framed as a wicked satire, a story of passion and repression, mercy and betrayal.
Praise