A Little Learning

by Caro Fraser

unusual book

Genres: Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2001

About the author

Caroline Georgiana ("Caro") Fraser was a novelist.

Fraser began her career as an advertising copywriter. She became a commercial and maritime lawyer, and practised until 1992, when she became a full-time writer.

Reviews

[Mansuriah Hassan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The main story is about Carla Tradescant and effectively her boredom in her easy life. She has been married to Alan for 20 years, has no children and has known no struggle throughout this time. She is a part time teacher at the school where her husband is the headmaster. The story develops through those who are connected to her in different ways, her friends, colleagues and students. She hates the way her husband obsesses about school league tables and scrapes the dirt from under his fingernails with a matchstick and hates his moustache. In fact, she has grown to loathe everything about him. Thinking herself completely unattracted to her husband any more Carla starts an affair with a new English teacher, Peter Barrett who is 14 years her junior.

She thinks she loves this man, however, he has no interest in her apart from the physical relationship. She doesn't realize until too late and with significant consequences. Her affair with the young man soon becomes public knowledge, except for her husband who is the last to know. By the end of the story there is a complete breakdown as the inevitable confrontations happen and Alan has his own bombshell to drop on Carla.

Overall, the book was a poignant illustration of people's lives in a modern world. Worth a look - it makes you take another look at how you feel about what's going on in your own life and appreciate the good things you have and not take them for granted. The ending seemed pointless and drawn out, but quite predictable from the first chapter or so. I was left feeling like I had wasted hours reading this.

[Amberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started and finished date - 10.04.25 to 13.04.25.
My rating - Two Stars.
I found this book to be okay but it was bit boring also the cover of book was fine.
The writing was okay and the paced of plot was well structured also The atmosphere was fine. The characters was okay but found boring and I would have like to flash out bit more.

[Nikki H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit surprised by some of the low ratings, because I really enjoyed this book. It’s typical Caro Fraser: middle class characters, most of them fairly unsympathetic, having casual relationships with each other with a bit of professional work going on in the background. Lots of sex taking place but nothing explicit. Here, one of the ostensibly "nice" characters, a young school teacher, has an affair first with the headmaster’s wife and then with one of his sixth form pupils (at a time when this wasn’t illegal in the UK and wasn’t necessarily even a disciplinary offence). The last part of the book reads a little bit like a soap opera, as secrets are uncovered and emotions take over, but all good very readable fun.

[Fareeha Kanwal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a poignant illustration of people's lives in a modern world. Worth a look - it makes you take another look at how you feel about what's going on in your own life and appreciate the good things you have and not take them for granted.
The authoress encapsulates the world of a dissatisfied bored beautiful childless housewife Carla. This is an entertaining story, somewhat frustrating in parts, in which the major characters make unwise selfish choices and generally reap the consequences of these actions. 🗝️

[Kuena Makotoko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book fulled with a scandalous amount of complexity. Enjoyed the multiple perspectives, found that most characters were 3 dimensional.

One turn off for me was the ending. The book was going to have a higher rating, but the ending really killed it for me.

Overall, solid 3 stars

[Richard Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this quite a distressing and disappointing read. I know writers can't create a cast full of likeable characters, but this piece had only two even passably likeable people in it. It read like a 60s kitchen sink drama put into a 2000s/late 90s context. 3 stars is probably pushing it.

[John Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was indeed surprised to read a negative review of this book. Personally I think Caro Fraser is one of the most underrated English authors.
I thought A Little Learning was an excellent read.
Highly recommended.

[Jo vegan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring bored housewife has an affair yardy yardy yah thought it was going to get nether but it didn’t very boring

[Maxine McGregor · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book I have read by this author, enjoyable as you invest in the characters which make you want to keep reading.

[Fuglsang · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll try and be objective on this, though I find it to be difficult. For the first time I've found it necessary to write down notes to a book to keep track of what I liked and didn't.

First of all, the negatives of this book are prevalent. The writing is awful and I'd like to think it isn't just because the person translating it into Danish sucks - I do believe that the writing is that bad. Oh, and I really do hope that the original text doesn't say 'We'll all be old farts'. If it does... well, that'd just make me sad.

The characters are shallow and stupid. Not only stupid as in 'your characters are fail' but as in 'damn, woman, how can you be so stupid?!' I guess it's realistic that they're all just the cause of their own damn trouble but it's still annoying. There isn't a single person in this book that truly seems smart - also, there aren't any people with hobbies in the book, so when their marriages suck, they only have cooking and affairs as a means to amuse themselves. I mean - come on, get a damn hobby.
The only character that wasn't a type was Carla and then she was a type and all the way through I hated her guts anyway.

The plot, I guess, is trying to be realistic but it really isn’t. Som plot points are forced or rushed, others just aren’t important at all – for example, what in the name of everything that’s holy had the teenager, Katie, to do with anything? Really. Nothing is the answer.

I have to say though – this is the first time I’ve ever really hated a character, really, really loathed her (I’m talking about Carla of course). I’ve read ’Gone With the Wind’ and ’La Bicyclette Bleue’ but I didn’t want to slap them in the end. I don’t know if I’m supposed to hate Carla – if I am, kudos to Fraser, ’cause it worked. If not, then I wonder why Fraser hates women.

What I liked was the ending – mostly because that damn b*tch got what was coming to her – and also the love story between the teacher and his student. I mean, it was totally creepy her being seventeen and he ten years older. But it was kind of cute, too. Cut out all the BS and I might actually have enjoyed their story. If this book was about a hundred pages shorter and better written, it could have been really cool.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually felt a little bit angry after reading this book. Being a teacher myself, many of the scenarios mentioned would not have been tolerated i.e. relationships or rumoured relationships. Maybe private schools are different but these situations would be investigated immediately. The characters portrayed are selfish and the problems they experience are all of their own making, and I could not find a redeeming feature in any of them, and many of the characters added little to the overall story. The ending seemed pointless and drawn out, but quite predictable from the first chapter or so. I was left feeling like I had wasted hours of my life reading this.

[Carinya Kappler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caro Fraser encapsulates the world of a dissatisfied bored beautiful childless housewife Carla. Living in an English village, married to the Headmaster of a private college, the author describes how Carla's lack of purpose leads to irritation verging on phobia. This is an entertaining story, somewhat frustrating in parts, in which the major characters make unwise selfish choices and generally reap the consequences of these actions.
Carinya

[Mieke · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 Graag gelezen maar wel een dubbel gevoel na het uitlezen. Naar het einde toe zijn er wendingen die je een heel ander gevoel geven bij de personages, althans zo heb ik het ervaren. Ik ben een getrouwde vrouw van in de veertig en ik ben vrij zeker dat dat heeft meegespeeld bij het lezen.

[Jo McLeay]

loved it

[Jen Freeman]

This is quite well written, but for me there was not one likeable character in the book, and I found it impossible to care what happened to any of them!

[JenniferB]

Easy to read, depressing overall though.