Kate Woodcroft’s work is her life. Divorced with no children, she’s practiced law for many years. She specializes in prosecuting sexual crimes and she is no stranger to difficult cases. However, today she is in a bad mood after losing a case. But then her long time clerk, Brian comes to see her.
“What you need, is something that will take you to the next level. That will completely make your career.”
He has her attention now…
“ I’ve got just the sort of case you need.”
Sophie Whitehouse and her husband James have been married for twelve years and have two children together. Both grew up in affluent households and first met while attending Oxford. James is now a Junior Home Office minister. She watches her husband and the children, as they leave for the day. Her family. Her world. A world that crumbles at 8:43 that evening.
James is late and when he finally gets home from work and he tells her they need to talk. She tenses as she sees the look he gives her. It’s the same look he gave her twenty-three years earlier, right before he confessed to something that damaged their world. What he tells her now breaks her heart. But Sophie tells herself that they can get through this… they have been through worse. But it seems this is only the beginning, that the worst is yet to come, when he says….
“The story’s about to break”
Her husband has been accused of a heinous crime; Sophie is convinced he’s innocent. She’s desperate not to let these vicious lies break her family apart.
Kate is the prosecutor in the case against James. She’s determined to win and becomes obsessed with the case. It’s all she can think about. She’s usually able to remain detached but this case is unnerving her.
Will Sophie be strong enough to ask herself the hard questions? Even though she may not want to hear the answers to them?
So what happened all those years before?
So many secrets ….so many lies. But who is lying?
We learn about the characters lives through flashbacks and their individual perspectives. Hints about trauma and other incidents are slowly revealed.
“Anatomy of a Scandal” is a slow burning, character driven novel. In the beginning, there were times that my attention waned. There was a lot of legal jargon and details about the judicial system etc., but I realize that the author was trying to set the scene. I’m glad I stuck with it because before I knew it, I was fully immersed in the plot and the lives of the characters.
A well-written, cautionary tale that shows we may not always know as much about someone as we think we do. A story about sex, entitlement, power, and as the author says — “ venturing into dark places most of us would prefer not to think about”.
“What you need, is something that will take you to the next level. That will completely make your career.”
He has her attention now…
“ I’ve got just the sort of case you need.”
Sophie Whitehouse and her husband James have been married for twelve years and have two children together. Both grew up in affluent households and first met while attending Oxford. James is now a Junior Home Office minister. She watches her husband and the children, as they leave for the day. Her family. Her world. A world that crumbles at 8:43 that evening.
James is late and when he finally gets home from work and he tells her they need to talk. She tenses as she sees the look he gives her. It’s the same look he gave her twenty-three years earlier, right before he confessed to something that damaged their world. What he tells her now breaks her heart. But Sophie tells herself that they can get through this… they have been through worse. But it seems this is only the beginning, that the worst is yet to come, when he says….
“The story’s about to break”
Her husband has been accused of a heinous crime; Sophie is convinced he’s innocent. She’s desperate not to let these vicious lies break her family apart.
Kate is the prosecutor in the case against James. She’s determined to win and becomes obsessed with the case. It’s all she can think about. She’s usually able to remain detached but this case is unnerving her.
Will Sophie be strong enough to ask herself the hard questions? Even though she may not want to hear the answers to them?
So what happened all those years before?
So many secrets ….so many lies. But who is lying?
We learn about the characters lives through flashbacks and their individual perspectives. Hints about trauma and other incidents are slowly revealed.
“Anatomy of a Scandal” is a slow burning, character driven novel. In the beginning, there were times that my attention waned. There was a lot of legal jargon and details about the judicial system etc., but I realize that the author was trying to set the scene. I’m glad I stuck with it because before I knew it, I was fully immersed in the plot and the lives of the characters.
A well-written, cautionary tale that shows we may not always know as much about someone as we think we do. A story about sex, entitlement, power, and as the author says — “ venturing into dark places most of us would prefer not to think about”.