Fiction Book Club What Was She Thinking by Zoe Heller Buy book: $10.65 A lonely schoolteacher reveals more than she intends when she records the story of her best friend's affair with a pupil in this sly, insightful novel.
I read this book some months go, and hope you all get a copy and read to the end. You will notice from the outset the similarity to the on-going Mary Kay LaTourneau saga, but there is more to it than that. I would love to have a lively discussion...and with the readers here, I'm sure I won't be disappointed . First topic: who is the "she" in the title?
Is 'she' Barbara? The narrator? Is it because 'she' is revealing the details?
I will continue to read the book.
However, I do think a child should be allowed to be a child, remain innocent until adulthood. Yet, I'm perplexed as to when that age is. I've know 12 and 13 year olds who are more adult than adults.
But, have adults violated those 'mature' children already? Has their lives been to heavily influenced/tainted by the 'adult' world?
While we hear about the few cases the media focuses on, this kind of thing can be found everywhere. I work for a very small, rural, Southern school system, and we are dealing with a male teacher/middle school student case right now. Last year, we had a female high school student who apparently had affairs with more than one male student. Each case is heartbreaking for everyone involved. I do want to read this book, but I hope it doesn't excuse or condone this type of relationship. I can usally see both sides of most every situation, but this one is more of a black and white issue for me than most.
Isn't it interesting that the cases that make the headlines are the female teacher/male student ones? My school district dealt with a male teacher/female student(s) affair...primarily by dismissing the teacher and shipping him off to some other district. I suspect that these inappropriate relationships are much more common than one might think. I agree this is an absolute black and white issue, never, under any circumstances, appropriate or excusable.
Don't know - don't care - sorry Ann - no discussion from me this week - have just read the one read and my reaction is "Why was this book written and most importantly - why is it on our book club?" - think we all know WHY it was written - " to make a buck " -
We all know of the true sensationalized case of the teacher and minor student - and think we all agree it was completely IMPROPER and my personal opinion of the teacher, after seeing her on Larry King the other nite after her release after seven years I believe it was - is that she is still very emotionally immature -
Have had enough of this true story - certainly don't need to read a fictionalized version - so it's the delete key for me on this one -
I've read all your postings and few of them seem to address the book. Instead they address the issue the book raises, which everyone quickly condemns. I thought this book was marvelous.
I think one of the great things about this book is it shows how an affair like this can happen. It shows how someone gets themselves into a situation like this--that it happens little by little. I hope it would give you all some compassion toward people and the complexities of their lives.
Incidentally, I also think the tone of the book is perfect, and the fuddy duddy judgmental narrator is as creepy as the woman who had the affair.
Too bad you're passing on this one, Doris. I t addresses so much more than the teacher/pupil relationship. It is so well written and the characters (like them or not) are well developed. I often found myself wanting to grab both Sheba and Barbara, give them a big shake and shout "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING??"
I agree wholeheartedly that we have heard this story ad nauseum. If this were a man doing this to a 15 year old girl, we would put him in prison and label him a pedophile - and rightly so!!
Plus, I think her writing style is boring. Couldn't even finish the second part sent.
It seems that Barbara feels sorry for Sheba, even helping her by letting her move in with her. There is no excuse for someone to let themselves into that situation and I have no compassion for people like Sheba. It seems that Barbara treats Sheba like a kid. She doesn't want Sheba to drink before dinner but then she has to give in. Is this book just going to talk about poor Sheba and how the media is so unfair or is it going to talk about the kid she molested and how it has affected and changed his life? I don't think that they could have written a book about a male teacher that slept with a female student, because to some people it seems worse. Anyway, I will not be reading this book. I have absolutely no interest in it.
Okay - you all knew I couldn't resist the second read, didn't you? So - on to the discussion of "this" book - must say at beginning of second read, had a feeling that Barbara is living vicariously through Sheba - also think the "she" in the title is Sheba as the narrative is written by Barbara - may be wrong of course -
Also think Barbara (rather the author) is trying to get us to "think" - not just about this aspect of what we have been brought up to believe - but to question the whys of all of our beliefs - and that I do believe in - but in some matters we find that what we have been taught and accepted turns out to be the moral thing after all - too bad we can't sit around and discuss this book back and forth instead of having to wait for the "mail" - but thank you Suzanne for the "mail" -
So for you, Ann and eLIZabeth, and whoever reminded us that we were not discussing "this book" I'll continue the week - and see what happens - I know you all are most delighted with my decision - "(she says mischievously)" -
Well, I can't quite grasp who Barbara is or why she has such compassion for Sheba (a person I deem to have very off-kilter emotional issues). So, is Barbara living vicariously through this (in her own words) "fey person"? Or are her motherly instincts simply kicking in? Or is it something else entirely? But most important of all - is it even worth a continued read for me to find out?
"Schoolteacher Barbara Covett has led a solitary existence; aside from her cat, Portia, she has few friends, and no intimates. When Sheba Hart joins St. George's as the new art teacher Barbara senses the possibility of a friendship. It begins with lunches and continues with regular invitations to meals with Sheba's seemingly close-knit family.
But as their relationship develops, another does as well: Sheba has begun a passionate affair with an underage male student. And when it comes to light and Sheba falls prey to the inevitable media circus, Barbara decides to write an account in her friend's defense--an account that reveals not only an unwitting Sheba's secrets, but her own."
This seems to explain lonely Barbara's attachment to Sheba in the beginning - a new friend perhaps -
The "secrets" I suppose we will have to wait and see - if they are brought into the light this week that is - otherwise don't know if I am interested in enough to pursue farther, either -
I can identify with both characters.
Sometimes I think I have a dull life and I like being around "bad" people to both judge and get some vicarious thrill out of their exciting life. This is what keeps the tabloids and shows like Jerry Springer in business.
Sometimes insecure and needy people "glob" on to my life and seems to get a charge out of hearing about my relationships, giving advise and clinging to me.
The world is full of dysfunctional people and I enjoyed this book so much because it was a realistic look at how we try have our needs met in sick ways. All Barbara and Sheba's character defects come to light and it is so easy to judge them.
I'm with you, Kate. I can identify with both women as well. While we haven't been given much of Sheba's background, except that her father was a popular economist, and that she's "upper class," I can picture her entering a new school, finding her place there amid a few eccentrics, and eventually creating an intimate friendship with the narrator. I'm waiting to find out more about how the relationship between her and the student developed, and what needs (other than sexual) are being met by both. I can also relate to the narrator, who is lonely, feels superior to her colleagues,(she may very well be) and is drawn to Sheba in a way that she seems unable to explain, except to say, "intuitively." The typical "teacher's lounge" hasn't changed much since my day, and seems accurately drawn. Looking forward to finding out more about both women. Will try to borrow from my library; I am curious to learn more, but not interested in owning this book. I'm neither shocked or disturbed by the moral implications of the student/teacher relationship. Happens more than one would care to believe.
I was at first turned off by the subject matter of this initial offering of the on-line book club I just joined. However, as I read on I was quickly drawn in to examining the environment and personalities that are involved in this sordid affair. Plus the book is so British that it allows me to see into another culture. I am always impressed when a book opens other worlds to me. With 25 pages read, I am convinced to buy the book.
Unlike many on this forum, I found the book to be entirely readable and captivating. The two main characters we see in the story are found to have complex motivations, as we might expect ourselves to be found, even as we believe the motivations of others are not. Moreover, I suspect it is not easy to tell a story about someone who is telling a story about someone else.
The story, I think, is about a disconnect between the kind of person we believe we are (coupled with how this gets manifested in the actions we take} and the consequences of those actions, consequences that we believed we understood when we embarked on the paths we took. In the end, it seems, it is the consequences that in turn tell us the most about the kind of person we are and though this should make us think twice about them, it seems we never truly learn.
Just finished reading her first novel ("What was she thinking?" was her second) entitled, "Everything You Know", written four years earlier. I'm utterly amazed at the difference between the two. It hardly seems like the same writer. In many ways I'm glad to have read her second one first, as the first one seems to be marked with such cynicism and wretchedness that one barely could recognize the humanity that presumably lies somewhere hidden in the pages. It's true that in the second novel the character of the characters may not be all that much improved over those in the first one, but for some reason, in the second one, I found myself summoning up a semblance of caring for them.
In any case, regardless of how I feel about the characters, I think she is a powerful writer and an incredible observer of life in all its unfortunate sides. I suspect I would be rightly accused by the characters in her first novel of being like Penny, always trying to find something pleasant to say even in the most egregious moments. Even if this hurts, I suspect I will be keeping an eye out for her next novel.
