Testimony

Let me say first that I am a big fan of Anita Shreve. She is a gifted writer whose work is never trite, and she tackles difficult subjects with grace and care. But this novel, I must say, is one of the most disturbing I have ever read. And I couldn’t put it down.

Testimony is the story of what happens when a group of private school kids make a sex tape – 3 upper-class basketball stars and 1 freshman girl. We hear multiple perspectives, from the headmaster to the participants to their parents. We learn about the mistakes made on the part of the school administration and the parents, and the culture of drinking and easy sexuality, but we never really learn about what drives these kids to do what they do. Most disturbing to me, though, was the flatness of the character development of the girl – she is portrayed as a vixen, not a victim, and we never really see what vulnerabilities lead her to act the way she acted.

The saddest and most engaging story line is that of Silas, one of the basketball stars. He’s a “townie” at the school on a scholarship, and his girlfriend is a gifted musician on her way to Julliard. He is arguably the most sensitive of the kids involved in the scandal, and also the one with the most to lose. Although I don’t think it’s meant to be, his is the story that kept me reading until the very end.

Like much of what I’ve been reading lately, this was not an easy read, but it was definitely worth the time.