Notes on a Scandal (2003)

Barbara Covett appoints herself defender and interpreter of a fellow teacher whose sexual exploitation of a pupil has become public. What makes Heller’s novel valuable here is how loneliness and possessiveness borrow the language of friendship. Barbara’s sharp humour can draw you towards her judgements before the emotional price of accepting them becomes clear. Choose it for a compact, viciously observant account of dependence, with abuse and self-serving loyalty entangled.