Testimony by Anita Shreve

I fell in love with Anita Shreve's writing after reading The Pilot's Wife. Both my sister and I had been mesmerized by the story, so I made a mental note to check out her other books. After seeing others give rave reviews of Testimony, which just recently came out, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy.

But oh, did I get a little more than I had bargained for. Sure I read the premise and knew the book was about a sex scandal, but holy crap I guess I wasn't exactly prepared to read about it all in detail! Yikes, unfortunately because the whole book revolves around what happens in that dorm room with the Avery Academy students, I'm really not all that comfortable recommending this book to my family and friends. Call me a prude, but it was just too much for me.

What's really sad though, is that unfortunately these kind of incidents occur too much within our youth today. The book does redeem itself in a way by showing just how much our choices can have consequences. What occurred within hours of these youth's lives, affected them, their families, the school and marriages for years to come. Still, in my opinion, the lesson learned was not worth reading the story.

Description: 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.

Rating: ***

Recommend: not in good conscious.