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Zoe Heller
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Notes on a Scandal Paperback – January 1, 2007

by Zoë Heller (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 2,026 ratings
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Film tie-in edition of Zoë Heller's darkly compelling Booker shortlisted novel. The film of Notes on a Scandal received four Oscar nominations and stars Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench.

From the first day that the beguiling Sheba Hart joins the staff of St George's history teacher Barbara Covett is convinced she has found a kindred spirit. Barbara's loyalty to her new friend is passionate and unstinting and when Sheba is discovered having an illicit affair with one of her pupils, Barbara quickly elects herself as Sheba's chief defender. But all is not as it first seems in this dark story and, as Sheba will soon discover, a friend can be just as treacherous as any lover.

'Brilliant, nasty, gripping' Zadie Smith

'Compelling, dark, sexy' Observer

'Superbly gripping. One of the most compelling books I've read in ages' Daily Telegraph

'Deliciously sinister' Daily Mail


Zoë Heller is the author of three novels, Everything You Know, Notes on a Scandal, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2003 and The Believers. The 2006 film adaptation of Notes on a Scandal, starring Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench, received four Oscar nominations. She lives in New York.
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  1. Book 2 of 3
    Penguin Ink
  2. Print length
    256 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 2007
  6. Dimensions
    5.08 x 0.63 x 7.8 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0141029064
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0141029061
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Film Tie-in Ed edition (January 1, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0141029064
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141029061
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.08 x 0.63 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 2,026 ratings

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Zoe Heller

Zoe Heller

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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
2,026 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

sb-lynn
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite books - NOTE - THIS IS A REVIEW FOR NOTES ON A SCANDAL BY ZOE HLLER
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2003
Verified Purchase
*PLEASE NOTE - THIS IS A REVIEW FOR NOTES ON A SCANDAL by Zoe Heller. For some reason this review (after 11 years) got also placed under Joseph Heller's book, Something Happened. I contacted Amazon and they said that they cannot fix this so apologies.

Brief summary (of Notes on a Scandal) and review, no spoilers.

Barbara Covett is a 60ish spinster school teacher, opinionated, intelligent and very lonely. She becomes good friends with Sheba Hart, a beautiful, popular 42 year old new teacher who has just arrived at Barbara's school. The novel is told from the point-of-view of Barbara, as she befriends Sheba and discovers that Sheba may be having an affair with one of Sheba's young students.

When I heard about the plot of this book, I have to admit I wasn't all that interested in reading it. But I picked up the book and read the first page and found it utterly compelling and an engrossing and intelligent read.

Part of the brilliance of this novel is the way you learn about both characters by listening to the narrator, the aptly named Barbara Covett. All is not what it seems and the author does a wonderful job making these characters very real people. Heller does a wonderful job showing how single women relate to those married with children and how people deal with loneliness and routine. She also shows how we make rationalizations about ourselves and our actions in order to justify our beliefs that we are good, honorable people.

I highly recommend this novel for any book clubs. It would make for a great discussion,and I think that everyone is going to have a different opinion about each of these two women. Not only is this novel an intelligent read, but it's a fun one also. This book is a page-turner that leaves you thinking about it and wanting to talk about it with your friends..what more can you ask for?
65 people found this helpful
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Bibliofiend
4.0 out of 5 stars Mach the Knife
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2019
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I saw the movie before the book, and both are excellent: in some ways, the movie is crisper and more satisfying than the novel, though less nuanced and arguably more messy. The structural dynamics of Heller's novel are interesting: older woman, younger woman; older man, younger woman; older woman, (far) younger man. Four square? Not exactly. The legs of this table are not stable. The aptly named Barbara Covett does exactly that: she wants the fey Sheba Hart mind, body, and soul, even as she despises (and resents) her haut bourgeois, faux boho lifestyle and syrupy idealism. While the movie seems to depict the loathsome Covett as a closeted lesbian, the book shows her as a desperate, cynical, and grasping woman who seeks to latch onto anyone who will tolerate her (and sure enough, there are few takers.) Though spirited, curious, and even willingly wicked, Sheba ultimately is the proverbial innocent, a babe in the woods married to an older man who treats her with veiled condescension, as does Sheba's own family, who compare her unfavorably to her brother. (Barbara observes that Sheba is not one of the great schemers, despite her perfidy.) Unlike Covett, Sheba is not a high Mach. Just as Barbara obsesses over Sheba, Sheba obsesses over her much younger student and lover, Steven, who ultimately gains the upper hand and disposes of her cruelly. Weakened, Sheba is spun ever more tightly into Barbara's sticky web. This book is not for the faint of heart, and it is utterly unsentimental. Heller crafts a finely layered Machiavellian female villain in Covett: deceitful, cruel, contemptuous, vain, greedy, needy, sad, and achingly, unbearably lonely. The shark bites with her teeth, dear, and she keeps them pearly white.
20 people found this helpful
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Daniel Villines
3.0 out of 5 stars More than a Scandal
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2015
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A human soul that has been scared deeply may move through life causing wrongful acts that seem reasonable or normal. Under such circumstances, those that do harm to others may not be aware of the harm they are causing. Their ability to reason their position relative to society’s moral lines has been altered to some degree, possibly by some small and forgotten act that happened at some unknown time in their past. But the change occurred, the mind was altered, and their reasoning thereafter is unknowingly affected.

It is this perspective that gives Notes on a Scandal its strength. The characters are wonderfully good natured but are deeply flawed. They move through life with ease. They have successful careers, they raise families, and they are generally well-liked by those that hold them at a social distance. But within their inner circles, the lives of these characters are irreparably broken while still believing that all is well. They constantly hurt those that are closest to them and they do not understand the reasons for the anger that is returned. Notes on a Scandal puts this human complexity into words.

As a point of weakness, an argument could be made that the book does not dive deep enough into the psyche of its characters. Heller provides a narrative that keeps her readers at a distance. While we are free observe their acts and to and contemplate the sources of their problems, we never know for sure why her characters are the way they are; which brings us back to way things are in life.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Client d'Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read!
Reviewed in France on December 31, 2021
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I will not lie, I bought this book after watching the movie; a movie that I mainly watched because Cate Blanchett was in it. But boy did I not regret buying this! It gives a much more in depths analysis of the different characters than what the movie could do. Don't get me wrong : Barbara is a very disturbing person, but she is fine observer and she can be a real blast! Reading the entire story from her point of view is a real treat. As for Sheba, I absolutely love how much we learn about her in the book, which is something that was seriously missing in the movie. Cate Blanchett is a marvelous actor and she was a perfect cast for the role of Sheba, but I did not find the movie satisfactory in terms of Sheba's motives. I always felt like what she did was kind of random. In the book, we get to hear more about her perception of this situation and we see how naive she can be. Truth be told, I found myself being infuriated at her at some point, and that is just brilliant work! Honestly, the work on the intrigue and the characters' psychology is amazing. I was surprised at first that the book started with the end of the story, since the movie builds up to that big reveal, but it did not make the book uninteresting at all, since, to me at least, the main point of the book was to understand each character's motives behind this scandal. Honestly, if you liked the movie and are generally interested in the drifts on the human mind, you might love this just as much as I did. Bravo Miss Heller!
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Comillas
5.0 out of 5 stars Notes on a Scandal
Reviewed in Spain on August 18, 2021
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La historia en si y el desarrollo de la misma. Va creciendo en intensidad a medida que el narrador nos relata los acontecimientos desde una distancia critica. El final es espléndido,.
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MARCOS AMARAL
2.0 out of 5 stars Um libelo moralista!
Reviewed in Brazil on May 14, 2019
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O livro é decepcionante!
One person found this helpful
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Jetty Martson
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and compelling
Reviewed in Australia on April 28, 2018
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Beautifully written, compelling and quite impossible to put down. How I’d love to know what happens next! I thoroughly recommend this book.
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OCC
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book. Couldn't wait to find anything else written ...
Reviewed in Canada on September 3, 2015
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Great book. Couldn't wait to find anything else written by Zoe Heller after finishing this one.
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