Book Review: Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan
Anatomy of a Scandal is a tense courtroom drama with a large helping of ‘Me Too’ sentimentality.
The plot centres upon the scandal of a married up and coming politician who is caught out having an affair with one of his female staffers. The scandal then intensifies and threatens to derail his career and ruin his marriage when his mistress accuses him of rape. There is minimal evidence and therefore, it all becomes a ‘he said, she said’ situation.
The story is told from multiple POVs, including the politician, his wife, and the crown prosecutor. Vaughan’s writing style is intelligent and extremely well researched. She shows an excellent knowledge when it comes to the finer details of politics, the judicial system, the press, and Oxford (which features heavily in flashback scenes).
Unlike most books, the twist doesn’t really come at the end but is revealed around the halfway mark. I certainly didn’t see it coming and actually had to flick back and re-read a few scenes once I reached this point.
I was definitely absorbed and read the book quite quickly as I was very eager to learn just how everything would be resolved. My only complaint would be that the ending wasn’t as powerful as I imagined and, subsequently, I shaved off 1/2 a star from my rating.
4 1/2 stars out of 5
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