womens fiction

A fascinating book, mainly focusing on the relationship between two teachers, one a 60-ish spinster type, the other a married 40-ish woman. The older woman, Barbara, covets a friendship with the younger woman, Sheba. Sheba, however, begins a torrid affair with one of her students at a lower-class school. Barbara takes it upon herself to take 'notes' of the scandal and transcribe this history as she observes it happening, as Sheba eventually relates it to her, and what she believes is happening. As Barbara tells this story, she gives away not only details of Sheba's life and the scandal that ensues (the affair, once out, creates a media frenzy), but she reveals a great deal about her own life (and sometimes lack thereof). It's quite chilling to get these insights and revelations and to watch it all unfold. The story is intelligent and holds a few surprises, and it's definitely compelling. I wasn't 100 percent certain I wanted to read it at first, but once I cracked the cover, I found myself drawn into this creepy narrative and wondering what makes Barbara tick.

What was she thinking? That's the natural response when someone hears of lurid stories on the news similar to that of the novel What Was She Thinking? In the novel, Sheba Hart, a forty-something teacher has an affair with a student at her school. The novel does not, as you might expect, tell us what Sheba was thinking at all, rather, Zoe Heller has focused on the thoughts of Barbara Covett, a sixty-something teacher at the school where Sheba also teaches. She is the narrator, and we get into her brain, so much so that the story isn't really about Sheba and young Steven Connolly, but about poor Barbara. Barbara has never married, has no friends, and is basically a social misfit. She is not the sort of person anyone would really choose to be friends with, but her position lends itself to an ability to tell a compelling story--about herself. She becomes obsessed with Sheba, even before she realizes what Sheba is doing with the student. The novel is really about their relationship, how it develops, and why, at least from Barbara's perspective, it develops. What Was She Thinking is a fascinating character study and moral tale that is reminiscent of Iris Murdoch's novels, as well as Ishiguro's Remains of the Day. I was very impressed with this novel, particularly because I thought it was just going to be about this student-teacher affair, when in reality, that affair serves as a springboard for a much deeper, more interesting story.

What a good book! Too bad it takes place in England. It seems to me there was a case similar in USA where the teacher was jailed, resumed affair upon release, became pregnant, was jailed again. The boy's mother was vexed but no one could keep them apart. Interesting is that all Heller's characters have their motivations revealed. However, they do seem rather shallow people all trying to put their own little goals into action, especially the main teacher-lover. But she is usually in a daze and becomes a stalker when she is dumped. The wisest one may be the angry daughter. Who wouldn''t be angry living in the midst of such oafs?