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Testimony: A Novel, by Anita Shreve
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At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora's box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voices--those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal--that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment.
Writing with a pace and intensity surpassing even her own greatest work, Anita Shreve delivers in TESTIMONY a gripping emotional drama with the impact of a thriller. No one more compellingly explores the dark impulses that sway the lives of seeming innocents, the needs and fears that drive ordinary men and women into intolerable dilemmas, and the ways in which our best intentions can lead to our worst transgressions.
- Sales Rank: #613941 in Books
- Brand: Shreve, Anita
- Published on: 2009-05-05
- Released on: 2009-05-05
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.25" h x 1.00" w x 5.50" l, .70 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 305 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Shreve's novels (Body Surfing; The Weight of Water) benefit from propulsive plots, and her mixed latest, with its timely theme of debauchery among children of privilege, does not lack in this regard. The first paragraph foreshadows a tragedy in which three marriages are destroyed, the lives of three students at a private school in Vermont are ruined, and death claims an innocent victim. The precipitating event is a sex tape involving three members of the boys' basketball team and a freshman girl. Beginning with an account of the debacle by the Avery School's then headmaster, and segueing to the voices of the participants in the orgy, plus their parents and others touched by the scandal, the narrative explores the widening consequences of a single event. Shreve's character delineation is astute, and the novel's moral questions—ranging from the boys' behavior to the headmaster's breach of legal ethics to the guilt of those involved in the death—are salient if heavy-handed, while the female characters are wicked in the way women have always been stereotypically portrayed. The novel is clever, but the revolving cast of narrators often feels predictable and forced, keeping the novel on the near side of credible. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Bookmarks Magazine
Most reviewers hailed Testimony as a deft, insightful exploration into the tragic, far-ranging effects of a single night. Yet critics diverged on a number of points. Some thought that Shreve's diverse perspectives made the sex scandal and other characters' plights, such as those of the guilt-ridden adults, more immediate. But a few claimed that the fractured narrative distracted from examining the morally gray situation more fully and decreased the overall emotional impact. Character development similarly raised questions. As the reviewer from Los Angeles Times noted, the girl on the tape—portrayed more as vixen than victim—"is Shreve's missed opportunity for an exploration of what drives young girls toward promiscuity." In the end, however, Testimony—like Shreve's other novels—is not always enjoyable, but it's impossible to put down.
Copyright 2008 Bookmarks Publishing LLC
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Shreve, consummate crafstman and frequent provocateur, is on fire in her latest novel, a mesmerizing read centering on a sex scandal at a prestigious Vermont prep school. The story is laid out in short, dramatic chapters narrated by a chorus of participants and bystanders, from the beleagured headmaster to the heartbroken parents to the vacuous girl at the center of the scandal. Three star basketball players were videotaped having sex with a freshman, and the tape was then posted on the Internet. The reaction is immediate and the results devastating, destroying marriages, ruining futures, and, most horrifying of all, resulting in a death. Part of what makes the novel so riveting is its graphic rehashing of a scandal familiar from newspaper headlines, but most of this affecting novel’s appeal lies in the way it so carefully fills in the nuances often missing from the headlines. One of the boys, the son of local farmers who was attending the elite school on scholarship, had learned a shocking secret about his mother just prior to the incident and, uncharacteristically, had too much to drink. Conversely, the girl ultimately calls the cops, thereby alerting the media, and accuses the boys of rape because it’s easier than having to face the wrath of her father. Shreve views all of the characters, even the most flawed, with a good deal of compassion, revealing the heartbreaking consequences of a single reckless act. --Joanne Wilkinson
Most helpful customer reviews
137 of 143 people found the following review helpful.
One of the Best from Shreve in Years!!!
By Maudeen Wachsmith
Anita Shreve never plays it safe with her books and her latest, Testimony, is no exception.
Avery Academy is a small private school in Vermont. Everyone who attends has been carefully screened and selected to attend. From the rich young freshmen to the athletic seniors tapped for college play; no one attends Avery Academy by chance.
But for Avery Academy, all is not as it seems from outside its gates. Parties, which include alcohol and drugs, still occur and kids still get in trouble. This sets the scene for a horrible sex scandal from which no one will come out unscathed, not the students, not the parents, not the headmaster of the school; and not even the citizens of the town of Avery who don't even usually pay too much attention to what goes on behind the hallowed gates up on the hill just out of town. Parents find that even though they pay for the best education for their children, send them to the best schools available, they still can't protect them. Adults find that passionate desires can have far-reaching effects that can change lives forever.
Told from multiple points of view (I counted 20) in less talented hands the narration could get confusing. But with Shreve, it did not. Perhaps that was because with over a dozen of these narrators we only hear from them once or twice.
However the story essentially belongs to three people: Mike, the headmaster of the school who we get to know the best, and Silas and Noelle, the two star-crossed lovers; Silas the basketball star, the local boy made good, son of average farmers from the town of Avery and Noelle, the talented musician destined for Julliard. As the story of the events of that one evening of sex and alcohol unfolds it is becomes clear that Silas stands to lose it all. But what sets in place such behavior uncharacteristic of the normally mild-mannered youth is at the crux of the rest of the story.
A graphic beginning describes the events of that tragic evening; and this is so graphic that it could tend to turn off some readers, readers who may be unfamiliar with Shreve's work. But those who have come to know and trust Shreve as an author will be compelled to keep reading and be certainly glad they did as the events unfold, a bit at a time, through the voices of not only Mike, Silas, and Noelle, but parents, classmates, and the other students involved in the scandal. We also hear from a reporter who eventually wins the Pulitzer for his reporting of the events.
However as the story develops, readers see that the scandal is only the tip of the iceberg for a greater tragedy that will even more deeply affect those involved.
This is Shreve at her best. She tells a compelling story so eloquently that is one of those deemed "unputdownable" -- be sure to start this one early in the day so you will have plenty of time to finish as once you begin it, you will not be able to stop turning the pages.
47 of 50 people found the following review helpful.
"The consequences of that one night have been catastrophic."
By E. Bukowsky
A firestorm erupts when a dormitory parent confiscates a tape in which three boys engage in intimate acts with a fourteen-year-old girl at a private school. The young people who appear in the tape attend Avery Academy in Vermont. Anita Shreve's "Testimony" examines this incident from every possible angle, using a Rashomon-like approach. She demonstrates how difficult it is to learn the truth when various witnesses offer conflicting opinions about what happened and who should bear the responsibility.
Mike Bordwin, the headmaster of Avery Academy, is shocked when he views the tape and sees Robert Leicht, and Silas Quinney, both eighteen, and James Robles, nineteen, behaving inappropriately with a pretty young freshman after an evening of heavy drinking. The author provides many perspectives besides Bordwin's, including those of the participants, the parents, Silas's girlfriend, a newspaper reporter, a roommate of the victim, a police officer, a cafeteria worker, an ER nurse, the dean of students, and a law professor. It soon becomes apparent that the story changes according to who tells it, and that there is plenty of blame to go around.
Using a straightforward and powerful prose style, Anita Shreve explores a number of thought-provoking and timely themes: The abuse of alcohol among young people is "starting at an earlier age and [is] both more habitual and more intense that it had been just a decade before"; students who attend private schools and who are athletically talented may behave recklessly because they feel "privileged"; when reporters grab hold of a scandalous story, they often transform a human tragedy into a media circus; our misdeeds may destroy not only our lives but also those of our friends and family. "Testimony" is a searing and powerful indictment of a society that, in many ways, has lost its moral compass, and for that, everyone pays a price.
32 of 35 people found the following review helpful.
thought-provoking
By Victoria J. Livingston
I'm a diehard fan of Anita Shreeve, and this book kept my rapt attention and I consider it one of her finest.
It's about a sex scandal at a private high school in New England and shows how one event can seriously alter the path of one's life--in fact, this event devastated many lives. One learns of a videotape early on in the book, but the sex scenes are tastefully depicted.
What I found interesting is that at least one of the boys involved is a very sympathetic character and the girl, who one might assume to be the victim, is depicted as manipulative and callous. I certainly could feel for the mother whose son committed suicide (we know this up front--in the beginning we know this even will ruin many lives, we're just not sure who and how).
As a writer, I found it curious that she mixes up point of view--first, third and even second, which is usually a no-no in writing; and she mixes up past and present tense. I was looking for a review to see what others thought about that. I assume she did it experimentally, and because she is a famous writer, she did it because she could. I found it to be a little disconcerting--the change of point of view and tense--but it did not detract from the story itself, which was quite riveting.
What I really like about her writing is that it's not just escape fiction. There is a message about how one event can serious change one's life--in this case, quite devastatingly. In a way, the book is about the negative consequences of sex--how teenage boys can be easily seduced and in another case, how an affair can damage lives, but it's not moralistic. I think it is very true that one event, one bad decision, can have a serious impact on people's lives.
I would definitely recommend the book. The characterization is rich. There are a variety of personalities and she's quite adept at getting inside the skin of each and every one.
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