I’ve loved Anita Shreve since reading The Pilot’s Wife nearly 20 years ago.
In the first chapter of Testimony, a headmaster of a prestigious New England boarding school gets hold of a sex tape featuring three seniors and a freshman girl. When the sex tape starts hitting the email accounts of students and staff members in school, the boys go to trial and their lives become ruined. The boys’ families also end up suffering for their mistake.
Each chapter in Testimony is told from a different character’s take on the incident and explores how each person’s life is affected by the sex tape.
Classified as an emotional drama with the “impact of a thriller” (according to the book’s synopsis), Testimony reveals how different types of people react to such an event. I expected more of a revelation, or a better twist at the end of this novel, and was disappointed when it ended abruptly without hints of a promising future for any of the characters.
I felt angry that the boys’ lives were ruined after just one night of partying with a willing participant, even if she was only a freshman. I think such incidents should be examined individually on a case-by-case basis, but of course the law doesn’t work that way. In this book, the young girl was a willing participant who initiated the entire incident.
Even though I was sorely disappointed with the outcome of Testimony, this was a great topic to tackle. The book is fast-paced and has short chapters that are completely different from the next thanks to the different voices of all the characters.
I’ve also read and reviewed the following books by Anita Shreve:
Other novels by Anita Shreve include:
- Rescue (2010)
- Stella Bain (2013)
- The Stars are Fire (2017)
Last Updated on December 11, 2025 by Sarah Ann
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