Search - Testimony

At first, I didn't know what to think about "Testimony" by Anita Shreve. The opening chapter described a sex scene in so much detail that I was unsure if I wanted to continue reading. However, that scene is the basis for the entire novel. After a sex scandal breaks out involving a private school, the lives of those involved change forever.

I was also unsure at first about the narration style of "Testimony". Each chapter is narrated by a different character in the book. And, each character has their own narration style. One character narrates in first person, another in third, one narrates through his journal, and another narrates by putting the reader as the character.

As I continued reading "Testimony", it was in fact the narration style that I liked. I think that the different styles really helped the reader to better understand the characters, and in the end, the story itself.

"Testimony" will be released in October 2008. But, if you'd like a copy sooner than that, click here. You'll enjoy "Testimony". I've heard great things about Anita Shreve, and I look forward to reading more of her work.

I absolutely loved this book. It's amazing how one act can change the lives of so many people. I like how the author wrote each chapter from a different character's point of view. I could not put this book down, read it in 2 days! Even if you are not an Anita Shreve fan, check it out.

I finished Testimony with a huge sigh and the question what would I have thought and how would I have handled a situation like this.

Avery Academy is a private boarding school in New England. It is lead by headmaster Mike Bordwin who receives a homemade sex tape featuring four of Avery's students. 3 young boys age 17-19 and a young girl age 14, almost 15.
Bordwin has to decide what to do next. Deliver the tape to the police or handle the situation contained inside Avery's walls. He decides to go with the later but as word gets around, is forced to work together with the police who soon arrests two of the boys and the third boy missing.

As the story slowly unfolds we learn about all parties concerned: Children, mothers and fathers, uncles, friends, reporters, people employed at Avery Academy and at last the little community.
Each has to tell a part of this story, how it happened, how the aftermath was handled, partly who was to blame for the whole situation and who the boys and the girl were.

As the story is told the reader gets a good picture of the students involved and the life they are forced to live after they were expelled from school, chances of going to University lost because they had one drunken night and did something very stupid, were probably seduced by "the hot chick".
However, the book is more saddening from the boys perspective. During my reading I felt sorry for them, less for the girl who according to her description by roommates and her own telling of the story seems to be every flaky and dubious.
In the end it is the law that decides who is to blame and bares the boys way.

And it is the reader that has to decide on which side to stand on. Are you forgivable towards the boys and the girl ? Do they need to be punished for life for something they did for a moment and for something they all wanted at this time and no one was harmed ? Is morality more important than their future ?

Of course things like this don't happen in real life, don't they ? Aren't teenagers and young adults wasting their time drinking alcohol, doing stupid things ?
Well I did, my friends did, not in this way but certainly the one or the other way and not always inside the law.

Very thought provoking and a must read for people who like to confront themselves, their own morality and sense of justice.

This one grabbed me right from the start, and it started with a BANG! I know you all must have read some of the other reviews and you know in general what the core of the book is about, so I won't go into it. But what I felt was that it poses a moral question for us all. Did these boys deserve to be punished more than the punishment that life handed out to them? Was it all their fault, or did the young girl deserve an equal part of the blame, and could this/does this sort of thing happen in real life? I think we know the answer to the last question unless we're very naive. Of course it does! As parents of teens, if this had happened in our town, what would our reactions be? This author gives us a lot to think about. Excellent read.

This book will not disappoint you, first person narrative.
It will grab you from the beginning and will not let you put the book down until you finish it.

This is the third book by Anita Shreve that I have read and again she didn't disappoint me. Hard to put down and read it over the Thanksgiving Break. I would highly recommend it to young adults too as it really touches base with what high schools students struggle with.