Cbr16bingo Scandal
This is a brilliant, riveting novel that deals with predators, sexual abuse, childhood trauma, bullying, and complicity. It also has an interesting narrative point of view. The main character Bodie Kane tells the story but not to us; she is talking to someone specific and we learn at the end of the first chapter that it is Mr. Bloch. Who Mr. Bloch is and why Bodie addresses him will become more obvious as the story progresses. This is a fictional story that deals in a very real way with the current (and timeless) topic of the objectification and abuse of women and girls, as well as the racial injustices baked into criminal investigations and the legal system.
It’s 2018, and Bodie Kane is a 40-year-old film professor and podcaster in California, mother of two, separated from her husband but not divorced. Bodie’s successful podcast focuses on the tragic fates of Hollywood’s most famous leading women, and it is due to her success in this area that Bodie is invited back to her boarding school Granby in frigid New Hampshire to teach a two-week winter term course on podcasting. Going back for Bodie is rather fraught since a terrible tragedy occurred there during her senior year (1995), a tragedy that has become fodder for true crime enthusiasts and online conspiracy theorists. Thalia Keith, Bodie’s former roommate, was murdered on campus and an athletic trainer named Omar went to prison for it, but over the years, outsiders have questioned whether or not justice was done. When a video of the school musical resurfaces — a musical in which Thalia performed and Bodie directed — Bodie cannot stop thinking about details that escaped her notice before. When one of her Granby students wants to do a podcast on Omar and the problematic investigation of Thalia’s death, Bodie is very interested in supporting the student but must walk a fine line. She doesn’t want to risk looking as if she were manipulating her students but she also knows more and sees more in hindsight than she did as an 18-year-old. There’s also the matter of PR for Granby and the feelings of Thalia’s family, most of whom do not want their painful past stirred up or the possible release of a man they are sure is a cold blooded murderer.
As Bodie navigates this sticky situation, she also remembers her time as a student at Granby and must also face a troubling situation involving her estranged husband Jerome. Both of these situations involve sexual harassment. Bodie’s past is quite tragic and it was rather a fluke that she wound up at Granby, a place where she felt like a fish out of water but found a few good friends and leaned into her “weirdness.” Bodie always thought that she was an astute observer, and while it is true that she did see things other missed, she comes to realize that there was much going on a Granby that she only sees now as an adult. When her husband is “canceled” by another artist, a woman who accuses him of abusing his position vis-a-vis her some 15 years ago, Bodie’s response is problematic and causes her professional problems but also compels her to think harder about her past and what happened to Thalia.
I could not put this book down. The story is fantastic and superbly told. I think women especially will be able to sympathize with Bodie and the other women and girls in this story as the varieties of abuse and trauma are revealed. The injustice toward Omar will also ring true, as countless recent stories (and podcasts) have revealed the systemic prejudice against black men and assumptions of their violence and guilt.