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Anatomy of a Scandal
- Narrated by: Julie Teal, Luke Thompson, Esther Wane, Sarah Feathers
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Summary
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.
Anatomy of a Scandal centres on a high-profile marriage that begins to unravel when the husband is accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is sure her husband, James, is innocent and desperately hopes to protect her precious family from the lies which might ruin them. Kate is the barrister who will prosecute the case - she is equally certain that James is guilty and determined he will pay for his crimes.
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Cruden Boy
- 01-04-18
This is only part 1
This is s good tale, which has parallels with David Cameron’s Oxford background. Lots of twists and turns but the last chapter does not complete the story; it sets you up for the sequel.
8 people found this helpful
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- Kaggy
- 06-02-18
Tense, engrossing and very topical
This is a gripping story about people in power, not because they want to do public good but because it is career, for which they have a deep sense of entitlement. The characters are intelligently written and despite their outrageous actions, are sadly very believable. There is very little here that didn't make my blood boil which was great because I felt totally committed to the wronged people in this story and to the final very satisfying resolution of this murky tale.
This is edge of the seat stuff which relies more on the interaction of the characters than physical action, and some of the exchanges are brilliantly written. In fact I would go as far to say that it challenged some of the prejudices I never realised I held, and it is a real eye opener to be educated by a piece of fiction. The narrators were faultless and really added to the whole experience. This comes highly recommended by me.
34 people found this helpful
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- CLBRIGHT
- 19-03-18
Not for me!
Did not enjoy this at all. The story was dull, the narrative pompous and unengaging and the readers, drab. I won't be pursuing further reads by this author.
21 people found this helpful
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- Cat
- 14-01-18
Unputdownable
I devoured it in a weekend. Absolutely brilliant, best thing I’ve read since Apple Tree Yard. Cannot recommend enough!
27 people found this helpful
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- Simon
- 21-01-18
Against a Tie and a Crest!
She thought she was smart when she took them on but she didn't take a peak in their artillery room . . . with apologies to Paul Weller!
Sarah Vaughan has written an absolute stick of dynamite and thrown it right at the over-privileged classes in a massively relevant drama. Although these are fictional characters she sticks her oar quite literally into the murky world of the old boys networks of our premiere universities. It's a book that explores the crushing arrogance of *some* of the upper classes and how their sheer arrogance and sense of entitlement, almost medieval in its nature, can wreak untold damage on all around them. There are references to Oxbridge, rich kids, dining clubs and how those same people have come to bring such damage to our country with their unsympathetic wielding of the power given to them.
The book is odd in the sense that most of the characters emerge with little credit to their names though there are a couple of great examples of nobility; that's the genuine characteristic not the inherited titular version! The book is well-suited to the four narrators and while it does take a bit of time to really get going the courtroom scenes in particular are genuinely powerful.
Sarah Vaughan - what a catalyst she's turned out to be - definitely one to watch!
28 people found this helpful
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- Melanie Preston Lewis
- 18-01-18
Excellent
This is a really very good story that I think would be perfect for the small screen. I don't know if It's because I have a very tenuous link with Oxford University, (my sister went), that made it all the more enjoyable. Maybe enjoyable isn't the right word, because at times, the book is so searingly honest, it's difficult to listen to. But the truth can hurt and Ms Vaughan doesn't shy away from making us face up to some very hard emotional veracity. However, it's all done with panache and good taste, so by the time you realise you've received instruction in morals and ethical behaviour, you're able to take it with good grace. All the narrators do well, but can someone please check how to pronounce the word "chutzpah"? The "ch" is not hard as in "chair"!
18 people found this helpful
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- Paul
- 03-02-18
Disappointing courtroom drama
Imagine a book where all the male characters are thoughtful, caring and intelligent, and the female characters are uniformly horrible: ranging from psychopathic sex offenders to stupid misogynists. No, I can't either, because that book would not be published, but reverse the genders and this is what we have here. The story revolves around a politician (Tory, of course) accused of rape. The author missed a trick in not giving him a waxed moustache to twirl, but other than that he conforms to ever characteristic of the pantomime villain.
I gave it every chance, reading until the final hour hoping that it would have some redeeming features. And to be fair, the writing is pretty good, and it is very well read. But eventually I was defeated by what is ultimately a pretty depressing diatribe against men.
22 people found this helpful
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- Buysalot
- 25-02-18
Really Gripping
I don't often post reviews but feel impelled here. A gripping plot, an excellent sense of time and place and a window into the thoughts of the characters. All this blends very well.
5 people found this helpful
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- Kirstine
- 31-01-18
Important subject diminished by bias
I realize that I am in a small minority when I say that I did not enjoy this book. It has been compared to Appletree Yard, but I think it is not nearly as subtle in the handling of a sensitive subject and displays a too obvious partisan agenda by the author. The main theme of Anatomy of a Scandal is whether a woman has been raped by a former partner, when there’s no evidence of violence. It’s a crime that is difficult to prove one way or another as it depends almost entirely on the credibility of the parties in the witness box, but is an important topic that could have been handled better. The story is too black and white with little nuance or any consideration that in some instances women may also be economical with truth.
The author prepares the listeners’ mind by demonising the accused male based on his drunken and destructive exploits many years earlier as a member of an Oxford university drinking club and characterises this kind of obnoxious behaviour as one of over-weaning self-confidence based on a privileged background when it is just as likely among a minority of young men from all strata of society. Life for women undergraduates at the university in the 1990s is portrayed as one of incessant predation by fellow male students. Altogether I felt that too much of the narrative was spent with descriptions of the shenanigans of Oxford undergraduates.
The narration by several voices is good.
16 people found this helpful
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- Dixon at Coryton
- 04-06-20
A great book
I really enjoyed this book. Well written with a good pace. I was in tune with the characters. This book would make a great mini series with the likes of Netflix, BBC, Amazon provided it is made by British Director!
1 person found this helpful
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- Mervyn
- 13-03-18
Days of men's galantry & caring for women are gone
The narrators were very good. The story was in very good voices and diction. I was loath to stop listening at any point.
1 person found this helpful
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- Symone
- 02-02-19
Had the foundation of an enjoyable book
unfortunately it felt like things were missing and a little thrown together at the end. The outline of the story had a potential to be great but I found myself bored.