by Zoe Heller
First published 2005
When pottery teacher Sheba's affair with a fifteen-year-old student explodes across the English tabloids, she flees her husband and children with nowhere to turn. Barbara, her older colleague, opens her home to Sheba in her hour of need. Barbara tells herself she's helping her best friend, but the truth cuts deeper. She burns with jealousy toward younger, prettier, more privileged Sheba. As Barbara recounts the story of Sheba's downfall, her own obsessive nature emerges. The forbidden passion that destroyed Sheba's marriage becomes secondary to Barbara's toxic devotion. Barbara watches Sheba with the intensity of a voyeur, revealing herself even as she exposes her friend's secrets. Heller crafts a psychological study of female friendship twisted by envy, desire, and self-deception. The narrative moves with the pace of a thriller while dissecting the complex dynamics between two women bound by circumstances neither fully understands.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: England
Period: contemporary
312 pages · Paperback · Calmann-Lévy
Content warnings: abuse, sexual-content