A Version of the Truth: A twisting, clever read for fans of Anatomy of a Scandal by B P Walter

A Version of the Truth: A twisting, clever read for fans of Anatomy of a Scandal by B P Walter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2019: Julianne is preparing a family dinner when her son comes to her and says he’s found something on his iPad. Something so terrible, it will turn Julianne’s world into a nightmare and make her question everything about her marriage and what type of man her husband is or is pretending to be.

1990: Holly is a fresher student at Oxford University. Out of her depth and nervous about her surroundings, she falls into an uneasy friendship with a group of older students from the upper echelons of society and begins to develop feelings for one in particular. He’s confident, quiet, attractive and seems to like her too. But as the year progresses, her friends’ behaviour grows steadily more disconcerting and Holly begins to realise she might just be a disposable pawn in a very sinister game.

A devastating secret has simmered beneath the surface for over twenty-five years. Now it’s time to discover the truth. But what if you’re afraid of what you might find?


I'm not really sure what I feel about this book, it wasn't what I was expecting. Written over two timelines with Holly as narrator in 1990 and Julienne in 2019. The book actually starts with Julienne in 2019 when her son Stephen discovers some material in the family Dropbox that worries and scares him and its discovery sets the story.


A dark and disturbing tale of gang rape, gay sex and other issues that are not easy to read about. It deals with elitist boys in Oxford and their quest for more and more daring experiences that result in some brutal consequences that spill over into their adult lives and the dark and depraved world of paedophiles and grooming.

Most of the characters are unlikeable which was probably intentional, some weak and easily manipulated and others that through lack of love and affection find themselves being drawn into this dark world.

I can't say I enjoyed it, it's not the kind of book that you can say that about. It was well written, awful in parts but compelling. I wanted the perpetrators to be dealt with satisfactorily but the ending for me felt incomplete and a bit hurried.

Scarily relevant at the moment and worryingly realistic, I give this one 3 stars.