I really enjoyed Anatomy of a Scandal. What did I think of Sarah Vaughan’s latest book, also a courtroom drama with political themes? Check out my review of Reputation by Sarah Vaughan, which will discuss how the book is different from Anatomy of a Scandal and what kind of readers I think will enjoy it!
Review of Reputation by Sarah Vaughan
Reputation by Sarah Vaughan
To be published on July 5, 2022 by Atria Books
This was on my list of Ten Summer Thrillers I Can’t Wait to Read in 2022.
Disclosures: thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy of the book for review.
Synopsis of Reputation by Sarah Vaughan:
As a politician, Emma sacrificed a great deal for her career–including her marriage and her relationship with her daughter, Flora. She finds the glare of the spotlight unnerving, particularly when it leads to countless insults, threats, and online trolling.
Fourteen-year-old Flora is learning the same hard lessons at school as she encounters heartless bullying.
Both Emma and Flora will discover it only takes one slip-up to destroy their reputations completely.
As Emma lobbies for a new law to protect women and girls from the effects of online abuse, she and Flora find their personal lives uncomfortably intersected. Then the unthinkable happens. A man is found dead in Emma’s home, a man she had every reason to be afraid of and to want gone.
Fighting to protect her reputation, and determined to protect her family at all costs, Emma gets pushed to the limits.
What is Reputation by Sarah Vaughan About?
Reputation has several different elements. It’s a look at online culture and its toxic effect on women. Reputation is a courtroom drama. It’s also a story about family and how far a person would go to protect theirs.
For me, the strongest part of Reputation was its look at the way women in the public eye are treated online. Being a female public figure means being subjected to brutally cruel comments about one’s appearance, actions, and even private life. Being a young woman on social media can also be horribly difficult. An online culture that worships perfection and tolerates cyber-bullying can severely impact teens’ mental health.
What Did I Think of Reputation?
To me, the book felt like it had three distinct parts. The first part of the book was a feminist critique of toxic online culture. The second part of the book was a courtroom drama as main character Emma is tried for murder. The third part was a bunch of big revelations at the end.
For me, this meant that the book felt unevenly paced. It moved pretty slowly all the way through until the very end when we’re finally given the information that makes everything make sense.
I understand why the author did this, but at the same time, the middle of the book is a bit of a muddle. The book never shows the incident that puts Emma on trial for murder to the reader in real time.
This means we spend a lot of time having no idea exactly what happened. Did Emma kill someone? Was it an accident? (There’s a staircase involved, and I’m watching The Staircase on HBO , so it all felt very meta. What is it with mysterious staircase incidents.)
We get the prosecution’s version of events, and we get Emma’s. But Emma has repeatedly lied to the police about what happened (or at least been VERY evasive about the truth) so it’s hard to know if she’s ever telling the truth. She’s a politician, after all!
Without any context, reading the trial portions felt a bit frustrating to me. It’s horrifying watching an innocent person on trial, and it’s suspenseful to watch a guilty person on trial. Will justice prevail? It was hard not to know how to feel about Emma at all. Did she kill someone? Was she just in the wrong place at the wrong time?
The ending of Reputation was fun, with reveal after reveal. Hooray – FINALLY we get some clarity into what exactly happened and who did what. And the answers are surprising for sure. But it was a long time getting there, and took a bit of patience.
I have a bunch of thoughts and questions, so if you’re interested in a spoiler discussion, let me know.
How is Reputation similar to Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan?
Both books take place in the political world and look at British politicians faced with a potentially career-ending scandal. Each looks at the way that scandal effects the politician’s family.
Both books have a courtroom drama element. I’m a fan of legal dramas and I’m so glad they seem to be making a comeback!
Both books have feminist elements, then slightly undermine that feminism (or at least show that feminists don’t always uphold their own ideals. Fair enough. People are complicated!)
If you haven’t yet, try Anatomy of a Scandal, either the book or the series on Netflix. I have a spoiler discussion and an Anatomy of a Scandal book vs. series comparison, so please stop by and discuss!
Have you read Reputation or Anatomy of a Scandal? Do you like courtroom dramas? I feel like they were very popular in then 80s and 90s, then fell out of favor, and now are coming back again!
If you love books with courtroom drama, here are a few more suggestions: The Night Swim by Megan Goldin (I also have a spoiler discussion for The Night Swim), Take It Back by Kia Abdullah, or The Appeal by Janice Hallett (my spoiler discussion for The Appeal is here.)