Book Review - Testimony by Anita Shreve

Synopsis: Enter a world upended by the repercussions of a single impulsive action.

At an exclusive New England boarding school, a sex scandal unleashes a storm of shame & recrimination. The men, women, and teenagers affected - among them the headmaster, struggling to contain the scandal before it destroys the school; a well-liked scholarship student & star basketball player, grappling with the consequences of his mistakes; his mother, confronting her own forbidden temptations; and a troubled teenage girl eager to put the past behind her - speak out to relate the events of one fateful night & its aftermath.

First Line: "It was a small cassette, not much bigger than the palm of his hand, and when Mike thought about the terrible license & risk exhibited on the tape, as well as its resultant destructive power, it was as though the two-by-three plastic package had been radioactive."

Random Quote: "I think that though I will never be the same, my life is not destroyed. Perhaps it is better that I was pushed off the track or that I stepped off the track - & possibly it was a desire to do just that that prompted me to remain in that room - because I am a different person now. I cannot go along the path that everyone else in my generation will go on. I will have to find my own."

Review: Testimony is a story of consequences. In an elite co-ed boarding school in New Hampshire, an orgy between four students (3 male & over 18, 1 female & 14) is taped & the tape is passed around. Eventually it comes into the hands of the headmaster who must decide how to handle the situation.

Image by StarrGazr via Flickr

The novel gives us the words - the testimony, if you will - of people who were impacted by the events of the book. From the headmaster to the students involved to staff, faculty, & townspeople the events & their aftermath are examined from many different sides. If the discovery of the tape in the first chapter is the rock thrown into the pond, the rest if the book is the ripples that spread out from that rock into many life-changing (& a few life-ending) events.

The multiple perspectives are fresh & interesting & there are some finely drawn characters here - precise, exact, believable. This approach also has its flaws - a certain kind of enforced distance from events & characters, not enough of any one character to "know" them & care about them. The male characters are for the most part complex & fully fleshed, particularly the adult males. The female characters are problematic for me - stereotyped as vixens or good girls the virgin/whore dichotomy is on full display.

The novel has multiple settings, but two primary - Vermont & the elite boarding school where events take place. The sense of place in Vermont is palpable, that of the boarding school is more mushy. There are parts of this that reminded me of Midwives, also set in Vermont - the snow, the black ice, the oppressive cold, the warmth of family life seen through windows. The school environment isn't nearly as well imagined & in many ways the author keeps all of the teenagers at arm's length, mentioning their many transgressions, but refusing to explore them. This refusal to explore leaves its own ripples of missed opportunity throughout the novel.

Despite its flaws & missed opportunities the book is a quick read because it's difficult to put down. The story is compelling, although not always enjoyable & deftly illustrates the fact that actions do indeed have consequences.