Notes on a Scandal

Notes on a Scandal (What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandal in the U.S.) is a 2003 novel by Zoë Heller. It is about a female teacher at a London comprehensive school who begins an affair with an underage pupil. Heller said to The Observer in 2003 that the real life controversy of American middle-school teacher Mary Kay LeTourneau's affair with a student was the inspiration for the novel. A film adaptation was released in 2006, starring Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including nominations for Dench and Blanchett.