Anatomy of a Scandal
""...an amazing read! I found myself constantly wanting to pick the book up and read on. " "
Synopsis:
One of them wants to believe him, the other wants to take him down.
Sophie is the good wife, doting to her husband, their family and his budding career but their life begins to unravel when her husband is accused of a horrendous crime. She wants more than anything for him to be innocent, to keep him and their picturesque life. Kate is the opposing barrister, she is just as convinced that James is guilty, she will go to great lengths to prove this and make him pay.
A high profile case with a star suspect but what happens when this case is bought to the court and who will come out victorious – a determined wife or a dedicated barrister? Both women are thrown into the light of this trial but how will they both deal with the outcome.
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Review:
This novel completely drew me in from the off. The story is told from several view points, Holly, Kate, James, Sophie and Alison - this was an effective storytelling approach as it showed how their lives past and present can still be interlinked. Each characters perspective also brought something new to the storyline, as it altered from one chapter to the next; planting new ideas on things you have already read. As you start getting in to the novel Vaughan takes the reader on a trip down memory lane whilst also introducing a new character to us. It is through this that she is able to unleash a massive twist mid novel, that I did not see coming, and it is certainly worth the wait behind understanding the characters relevance and the flashbacks that draw away from the current situation. Vaughan keeps ideas around the trial very neutral, to the point where even I wasn't sure what or who to believe. It is only as the novel begins to unfold and details unravel that suspicions are raised on one of the characters. The decision could have gone either way and I was torn between whether he was guilty or not. I did feel that after the decision in court was made that the novel dwindled a bit for me and lost its edge. I was curious to read on to see where Vaughan might take the story from that point, as the court case is the main event, more secrets were revealed but these were ones we already knew, but as much as they were less of a shock it was also good to see the reaction of the characters who had just found out. Vaughan has cleverly played on the fear of - do we really know the ones we love? It draws on a marriage that publicly appears flawless but contains many secrets behind closed doors. She tells the story in a way that characters unintentionally unveil their true self that is shocking to find out as the reader but more so for the character that is supposedly closest to them. 'Anatomy of a Scandal' is an amazing read! I found myself constantly wanting to pick the book up and read on. Vaughan encapsulates the pressures of a trial and has a great sense of the wording used to make the reader feel like they are literally sitting in the courtroom with the characters. This is a very exciting debut that I am telling all to get their hands on in January 2018.