What readers think of The English Teacher, plus links to write your own review.

Vida Avery has a secret. A horrifying, life-altering secret that she has never told anyone. Now it's 1979--15 years later.

Fiercely independent Vida is living a satisfying, albeit not particularly happy, life at Fayer Academy, a posh prep school nestled on a secluded island off the coast of New England. She is an English teacher in the upper school so she is able to immerse herself in novels—so much so that the characters on the pages are more real to her than her colleagues and friends. Vida, who never married, has a teenage son, Peter. She loves him, but she has recurring nightmares about hurting or even killing him. Now Vida has impulsively accepted widower Tom Belou's proposal of marriage, and she and Peter move in with patient, understanding, and wonderful Tom and his three children. Simon is 18 and has dropped out of life since his mother's death, embracing weird philosophies while entertaining girls in his room at night. Fran is in 11th grade and vacillates between being snippy and mean and kind and compassionate. Little Caleb is a sweetheart. Peter is ecstatic about being part of a real family, even as he begins failing most of his classes at Fayer and his classmates seemingly shun him. Meanwhile, complex and wounded Vida is terrified of sex, so the newlyweds are having great difficulty in bed.

Brilliantly written by Lily King, the novel reflects the plot of Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the d'Urbervilles," as Vida, who teaches the book annually to her 10th graders, realizes that Tess's life is mirroring her own. Vida's mental state is precarious at best as she realizes her marriage was a huge mistake. Meanwhile, Tom knows that Vida isn't telling him something and it's creating a huge wedge in their relationship.

We readers are eventually apprised of Vida's lifechanging secret long before anyone else finds out (although it's fairly easy to figure it out if you're paying attention), making her psychological downfall all the more harrowing.

This is a profound and moving tale that is emotionally charged and at times deeply unsettling as all the characters must deal with their own kind of grief if they want to move forward with their lives.

Note: While it's not necessary to read "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" before reading "The English Teacher," your experience will be much richer if you do—or at least Google the plot of "Tess."

This book in my opinion was quite extraordinary in many ways. It is a true story and in fact the author of the book experienced the many horrifying experiences that she writes about in this book. Written by Jodee Blanco this book gives one a clear picture about how school bullies cant have such a devastating and sometimes even well needed impact on our lives. She has portrayed her sufferings in such a way that any reader of this book would feel her pain as i it were their own. A very good book of school hardships and troubles, peer pressure and sorrow. Once you start you wont be able to put it down till the final page.