Essay Questions

What are the circumstances of Olivia's rape?

James had read something in the media that made him furiously angry. He tries to make out with Olivia in a small elevator but she pushes him away which makes him angrier still. He forces himself on her, tearing her clothes and biting her lip. He also tells her that she can't refuse him and tells her that to do so would make her a "prick tease".

Why is Tom so loyal to James?

Usually when a politician is disgraced, or involved in a sex scandal, his fellow ministers cannot disassociate themselves quickly enough. Tom, on the other hand, is quite steadfast in his support of James which on the face of it seems foolish given his political position.

We learn that Tom and James were both members of a university drinking club, The Libertines, while at Oxford. On one particularly drunken night of partying, Tom gives drugs to a fellow member, Alec, who is so high that he falls from the balcony of the club building. James helps Tom cover up the events of the night, which means that both men are forever anxious to protect the other and their shared secret.

Why should Kate have excused herself from James' trial?

Kate has a huge conflict of interest as prosecutor in James' trial, and in fact should have offered herself as a witness for the prosecution because she, too, has been raped by James.

Although she was attracted to him in college she believed that he barely noticed her. At the time, she was going by her given name, Holly Berry, and she was study partners with Sophie, James' "girlfriend" and the object of his affections. One evening, as James returned from a drunken party with The Libertines, they ran into each other and began to make out. James tries to take things further but Holly pushes him away, which makes him angry. He rips her clothes and forces himself on her, saying that if she refuses it would make her a "prick tease". Given that this is exactly what he says to Olivia, Kate would have been far more effective as a corroborating witness, because her evidence would have shown a pattern of behavior going back decades.

Even if she did not want to share her story or offer herself as a witness, Kate should have recused herself from the trial.

How does Sophie come to realize James is an habitual rapist?

Sophie spends much of the novel in complete denial and tends to blame the women accusers rather than the man himself. However, she becomes uneasy during the trial when she hears Olivia's testimony, because when James is angry, he tends to be rather aggressive in bed and rip her clothes or treat her too roughly in a similar manner. This definitely makes her think that there is at least a degree of truth in Olivia's accusation.

When she runs into Ali at an Oxford reunion, she learns that Holly (Kate) was also raped by James and although she is angry with Ali and protests that it cannot be true, she believes that it is true, and that what she is learning makes sense when related to many of the things that have happened in their marriage. She also realizes that James came to her room at college after raping Holly, and that she inadvertently provided him with an alibi.