Review: Anatomy of a Scandal

Title: Anatomy of a Scandal
Author: Sarah Vaughan
Genre: Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher
Release Date: January 23, 2018
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sophie’s husband James is a loving father, a handsome man, a charismatic and successful public figure. And 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 rip them apart.

Kate is the lawyer hired to prosecute the case: an experienced professional who knows that the law is all about winning the argument. And yet Kate seeks the truth at all times. She is certain James is guilty and is determined he will pay for his crimes.

Who is right about James? Sophie or Kate? And is either of them informed by anything more than instinct and personal experience? Despite her privileged upbringing, Sophie is well aware that her beautiful life is not inviolable. She has known it since she and James were first lovers, at Oxford, and she witnessed how easily pleasure could tip into tragedy.

Most people would prefer not to try to understand what passes between a man and a woman when they are alone: alone in bed, alone in an embrace, alone in an elevator… Or alone in the moonlit courtyard of an Oxford college, where a girl once stood before a boy, heart pounding with excitement, then fear. Sophie never understood why her tutorial partner Holly left Oxford so abruptly. What would she think, if she knew the truth?

Review:

I want to preface my review by giving a trigger warning. This story is about a trial for rape. There were some graphic scenes that made me uncomfortable.

This book really wasn’t for me. The beginning was a little hard to follow because there were so many characters that were introduced all at once. Also, the timelines jumped between when the event happened to the trial, as well as back to 1993, when some of the characters were in school at Oxford.

There was a twist halfway through the story, but it fell flat for me. I had already predicted what would happen before it was stated. After that, the story changed from being about a man on trial to a woman seeking revenge. That changed the morality of the story and made justice seem less important.

The ending was supposed to reveal a big event, but I didn’t think it was as controversial as implied. I was really disappointed in this thriller, because it wasn’t as shocking as I thought it would be.

Author: jilljemmett

Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book. View all posts by jilljemmett