Testimony: A Novel

Of the books written by Anita Shreve, I've read one other - "The Pilots Wife" - so I was familiar with her style of writing.That was one of the reasons why I decided to read "Testimony" - If I'm not mistaken, another reviewer of this book indicated that the storyline & format would be appreciated by people who enjoyed & understood Shreve's style.The story was told I think uniquely, by several characters...some of whom were major players in the story, & others who had a less significant role. I was impressed with how well so many of the characters were developed. It definitely caused me consider multiple points of view & to wonder how these types of actions & circumstances might evolve in reality.Whether or not you've read this author before, I recommend giving this book a try - I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Not how I was hoping it would end. Just sad. I could see where it was going and I was just hoping against hope I was wrong. I wasn't.

A book every parent should recognize since the worries over late night phone calls, wondering where the bear traps might be for YOUR child is full of universal angst.Without judgement, Shreve let's us see all of the explanations, emotions, thought processes and costs to future lives when three teen-age boys take a step off their charted paths with devastating consequences. Shreve let's us see the story of heartbreaks behind the headlines and exactly what costs are brought to their families.Sould have every parent honestly thinking if only for a few milliseconds, there but for the grace of God, go I. This book SHOULD be required reading for every high school sophomore , not in English Lit class but in Ethics. Teenagers with their feelings of immortality and looks past consequences for their every decision will either get the book, or notA possible future lost is found in all three families of the boys involved but it points with laser precision at the loss of responsibility or consequence for the girl.But everyone has to make their own judgement ........ Of who was right and who was wronged.Just like The Pilots Wife, this story is not a feel good, put it down and forget it 5 minutes later book. It will stay with you and maybe even make you think about your own path.

Once again, Anita Shreve delivers. Her latest book is about a small private school in Vermont. It is also about the people (students,parents,teachers,headmaster) and all the others of this small community.The incident that gets the ball rolling starts with a tape dropped off to the headmaster of the school. The tape is of three boys (18 and 19 Yrs. old) and one 14 year old girl engaging in sex in what seems to be a very drunken state, in the boys dorm room.The story is told by all the participants and their families. Each chapter is narrated by one of these people. It is at this point, as you get much further into the book that you learn there is much more to this very sad and disturbing story. When one bad decision is made and discovered the dominos begin to fall and the consequences of this are horrific and unfortunate.There is also a very good chapter at the end of the book that puts the whole incident into a different light. To say more would spoil the whole thing. If you have enjoyed Anita Shreve in the past, don't miss this one, it is fantastic!!!!

I'm a big fan of Anita Shreve, and I've read all of her books. When I saw her newest novel, Testimony, in stores I picked it up immediately. What I discovered was that Testimony is a story different from Shreve's other novels. Most of her novels deal with a woman who falls in love in some life altering way--but Testimony is definitely different.Testimony still deals with a life changing event--but instead of love its a sex scandal at a tony private school. The book uses short passages from about a dozen characters connected to the scandal in different ways to reveal how it happened and its repercussions. Even though the scandal seems pretty straightforward from the start, there are some twists that happen through the course of the narrative that make the story much deeper than a ripped-from-the-headlines teen sex scandal story. In Shreve's usual style, Testimony keeps you turning the pages--I didn't want to put this book down.I will warn readers that there are some graphic scenes in this novel--it does deal with a sex scandal. If this review system allowed half stars, I would give the novel 3 and a half stars--I enjoyed the book overall, but I was a little disappointed since I had enjoyed Shreve's earlier novels so much and was hoping for more of the same. But overall I think this book is worth reading--its a good story about the consequences of seemingly harmless actions.

Testimony is like nothing Anita Shreve has written before -- other reviewers have stated that and I agree. I think because its subject matter is not one that we expect Anita Shreve to write about but the book is similar to her others because it deals with emotions. One of the things I love about this author is that she has ability to write feelings. Her character Ellen when first introduced to us expresses: `You wait for the call in the night. ...You hear the words, but you can't form the sentences.' Wow! This narrative that she writes for Ellen is amazing and so thoughtful and true to life that I felt exactly what Ellen was feeling. This book is worth reading and experiencing. Anita Shreve's style in her presentation of characters adds to the book and allows the reader to experience the intensity of the situation from each character's point of view. By writing in this fashion she has allowed the reader to not just observe the situation but experience it emotionally right along with her characters.

I started this book on the start of a 5 hour train ride and the first pages really grabbed my attention to the point I didn't realise I was 3 hours into my journey and I was already half way through the book!! (Not good when the book was to read over my week break) I thought the fact characters' voices and their opinions from their personal view point was a really inspired way to see how a 'sex tape' film by teenagers then shared on social media, implodes the lives of these young adults and the people around them.The reader cannot helped being repulsed and judgemental right from the beginning, just like the characters in this book, but Anita Shreve prods the reader's sympathies too, making you see that is not such a black and white issue, there are all the stormy waters of sexual awakenings mixed with alcohol and naivety to consider too. And just as teenagers and adolescents make mistakes, so do the adults who should be helping guide these child-adults. The reader is given food for thought when the adults behaviour becomes immoral and it in turn makes victims of their wrong choices.The story makes you realise behind the gutter-press headlines when such a scandal is blasted into our lives, there are people whose lives are deeply scarred forever more by such an event, some who were really entirely innocent but their association sometimes so tiny.

The headteacher of an exclusive private Vermont boarding school catering for children from 14 to 19 years old receives a video tape of a series of sexual acts being performed by three senior male students with a freshman junior girl. The rumours abound (it's now on You Tube), the names of all the participants are known, the only secret that is never divulged is: who did the filming? Though we do find out why it was kept a secret towards the end of the novel. What we need to know, almost urgently, is why did this happen? But there can't be a why, not really, because the `because' is simply a `because.' No one is definitively to blame. All of them could have at some point or other, declined to take part any further. There might be a valid `why?' to the act of filming the sex - but that is not addressed in the novel. Another valid why? might be the question of senior students with a girl so much younger than themselves - but the question of age disparity doesn't arise so much as become a part of the understandably retributive aftermath. The girl was not coerced - yet she might have felt she was, naively or knowingly, enjoying the attention, or secretly scared to say no to them? Or might she have expected young men, so much older than her, to call a halt to proceedings? Yet what testosterone-fuelled young man could be relied upon to do that? The novel concentrates very much on the adult's reaction to this career-wrecking incident - even though it wrecks the chances of the `children' involved too. Marriages break up, (some were heading for the rocks anyway). The headteacher tries to keep the incident within the campus, but it inevitably escapes and the school's reputation is trashed, as a media-storm erupts.This is a sometimes rather jaggedly delivered story, told by both participants and onlookers, and it's true, as another reviewer remarks here, there is not much to distinguish them from one another. Most don't, anyhow, have much of great importance to say. But there is a fascinating dilemma at its heart, who do you blame? All seem equally culpable, which makes this an honest book and a compelling read, though the very sad finale is foreshadowed from quite an early stage.

I'm not a great fan of Anita Shreve's recent output so I didn't have great expectations. However, this book gripped me from the start and I really liked it all the way through.The multi-voice style really suited it, with various chapters narrated by some of the main protagonists but occasionally also minor ones. This keeps the reader's interest whilst allowing the story to unfold at its own pace whilst we meet and observe the various characters.The slightly terrifying part is when we come to reflect of what modern western society has done to adolescents. On one hand they are weighted down at an incredibly early age by a huge mountain of expectations that people of older generations just didn't have; whilst on the other hand access to sexual imagery and pornography has pushed them towards extremes in that direction. These two elements clash spectacularly for the 3 boys and 1 girl in the story, wrecking all their futures. Much is made of the 45 minutes madness that destroys everything, but at a closer look the elements were all there from the start, and they are all around us now; the story therefore is all the more powerful as you are made to feel this could literally happen to anybody.

This is the first book I've read by this author and thought she handled a difficult subject in an interesting way, but not altogether successfully. The first chapter is electrifying in its graphic description of an alcohol-fueled party in the dorm of a New England private school that got out of hand and in which an under-age girl engages in sexual activity with three older boys. The scene has been recorded and the film posted on FaceBook. The rest of the book is written in the form of statements by those involved, their family, friends and teachers plus reports by policemen, journalists and subsequently by academic researchers. I can see that the author is trying to give a realistic account of the event from all sides and reflect the uncertainties at the start of the investigation, but, by not clearly naming all the people in the film, nor fleshing out the important characters before we read their testimony, it is difficult to appreciate the chapters that follow. Each chapter is headed by the name of the person recording their testimony but it is confusing as to who is whom and what their inter-relationships are. Gradually it becomes clearer and the pieces fall together and the books becomes more gripping, though the jumping about in time detracts a bit from the force of the story. The author is good at altering her writing-style to reflect the way the different characters record their testimony.As someone who knows little about the school-system in the USA I was not sure what the different titles for the students indicated and, as I know even less about the finer points of basket-ball, the frequent references to the game and its importance for the futures of some of the characters were largely lost on me. I still have no idea what is the significance of being a PG player!I found the ending disappointing as many of the characters' stories are just left handing in the air as the book just peters out.

This story is full of promise - teenagers in a smart private school have been caught in a sex scandal and we are going to be told about the fall-out.Two years later a university professor is revisiting the events and her presence is stirring up memories, forcing those involved to consider the aftermath.The series of accounts from nearly twenty people look at how the scandal was handled, within the school and by the media. The chapters are told from the point of view of the individuals to give the reader an all round assessment. It is interesting how more is hinted at but not focused on, proving the wide range of implications caused by a few minutes of fun. The ripple effect is shown to great effect, almost playing down what is actually on the video and concentrating on the massive implications to so many people.Overall, the effect is inclusive but disorientating occasionally, exaggerated by the different styles used (some first person, some third person).I found that the number of characters works against the plot at times and think there were a few that could have been taken out, although I think I understand why the book was structured in the way it was.It is an interesting analysis which will be enjoyed by Anita Shreve fans and everyone else.