#Book #Review - Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan #AnatomyofaScandal

Publication date 11 January 2018

Simon & Schuster

I received an advance e-book copy of this novel via Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Book description:

You want to believe your husband. She wants to destroy him.
Gripping psychological drama for fans of Apple Tree Yard, The Good Wife and Notes on a Scandal.
Part courtroom thriller; part portrait of a marriage; part exploration of how our memories still haunt us, Anatomy of a Scandal is a disarming and provocative psychological drama.
Sophie’s husband, James, is a loving father and a successful public figure. Yet he stands accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is convinced he is innocent and desperate to protect her precious family from the lies that threaten to engulf him. She’s kept his darkest secret ever since they were first lovers, at Oxford. And if she stood by him then, she can do it now.
Kate is the barrister prosecuting his case. She’s certain that James is guilty and determined he should pay. No stranger to suffering herself, she doesn’t flinch from posing the questions few want to hear. About what happens between a man a woman when they’re alone: alone in bed, alone in an embrace, alone in a lift . . .
Is James the victim of an unfortunate misunderstanding or the perpetrator of something sinister? Who is right: Sophie or Kate? This scandal – which forces Sophie to appraise her marriage and Kate her demons – will have far-reaching consequences for them all.

My Review:

What happens on campus, stays on campus…but for how long?

James Whitehouse: Oxford graduate, privileged member of parliament, loving husband and dad of two beautiful children. Sophie: his wife, their relationship dating back to university days. She knows him better than anyone (doesn’t she?) and when the charges of rape are levelled at him she is reluctant to believe that he could possibly be capable of such an act. But as the trial goes on, the questions start to form in her mind and the doubts creep in.

I love the structure of this story, as the main storyline makes up only one part of the jigsaw as a whole.  In the early stages of the book there is very little mention of the antics of James and his best friend, future prime minister Tom during their Oxford university days.  The significance of the antics only comes into play in the latter stages - after the jury has made their decision and the trial is over. 
The characters all have their strengths - and weaknesses - and are not always what they initially seem. Whilst reading I was surprised that the author did not focus more on the character of the mistress and alleged rape victim, parliamentary researcher Olivia but by the end of the book this kind of made sense.  

This is a tale of the privileged middle classes who make up a large proportion of high profile politicians and such like, and how their ranks can close when times are troubled.  However there are also people amongst those same ranks who are unwilling to let the events of times gone by go unpunished. The quiet ones, the ones who slip under the radar of “the Populars”, the ones who watch from the sidelines. They’re the ones who ultimately hold the power.

A great book, which admittedly made for uncomfortable reading in parts, it made me consider the sense of entitlement that seems to go hand in hand with the moneyed classes, and whether I would really want to be a part of it even by association.

About the author:

Sarah Vaughan read English at Oxford and went on to be a journalist. After training at the Press Assocation, she spent eleven years at the Guardian as a news reporter, health correspondent and political correspondent. It wasn't until her second child was born, that she finally did what she'd always wanted to do and started writing fiction. The Art of Baking Blind is the result, and will also be published in the US (St Martin's Press) and in nine translations. She lives near Cambridge and is working on her second novel.
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