Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Testimony: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Testimony: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Testimony: A Novel
    Audiobook (abridged)4 hours

    Testimony: A Novel

    Written by Anita Shreve

    Narrated by Hachette Assorted Authors

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateOct 21, 2008
    ISBN9781600244032
    Unavailable
    Testimony: A Novel
    Author

    Anita Shreve

    Anita Shreve was a high school teacher and a freelance magazine journalist before writing fiction full time. She was the author of over fifteen novels as well as the international bestseller The Pilot’s Wife, and The Weight of the Water, a finalist for the Orange Prize. Shreve taught writing at Amherst College and lived in Massachusetts.

    Related to Testimony

    Related audiobooks

    Literary Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Hail Satan?

      Jul 26, 2019

      Hail Satan?
      1 min read

    • Article

      Pick Of The Month

      May 28, 2021

      Pick Of The Month
      2 min read

    • Article

      Steven Returns the Universe

      Mar 21, 2022

      Steven Returns the Universe
      14 min read

    • Article

      Fifty Shades of Dull

      Feb 13, 2015

      The movie adaptation of E. L. James’s bestseller succeeds in toning down the book’s most egregious elements—but reveals that there’s very little left underneath.

      4 min read

    • Article

      The 50 Best Podcasts of 2018

      Dec 23, 2018

      The 50 Best Podcasts of 2018
      35 min read

    • Article

      The Truth About An AMERICAN MURDER

      Oct 20, 2020

      It’s Shanann Watts herself who introduces her family on the latest Netflix sensation. ‘Hey guys, my name is Shanann Watts. Say hi, Cece...say hi, Bells,’ she smiles, to the camera, with both daughters and their family dog on her lap. But what should

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Young Australian Who Changed Trans Rights For Children: ‘Everything I Do, I Do For The Kids’

      Sep 21, 2022

      Georgie Stone is sat in front of her computer, lit by a desk lamp. “So, update: I’m gonna talk a little bit about boys,” she groans into the webcam, face contorting into a cartoonish cringe. “I’ve had a crush on this guy for about 10 months … and tur

      4 min read

    • Article

      Anthology Of Asininity

      Nov 26, 2020

      PERHAPS THE MOST salient piece of advice in this new guide to life as a twenty-first century male is contained in what James Innes-Smith, following Shakespeare’s much-quoted lines from As You Like It, correlates to the fourth stage of man’s journey f

      3 min read

    • Article

      10 Of The Best Documentaries On Netflix

      Apr 27, 2022

      A documentary can be many things: educational, thought-provoking, enlightening on the human condition, even scary. Here we bring you a selection of the What Hi-Fi? team’s varied favourites which are, above all else, hugely entertaining. Charting the

      3 min read

    • Article

      Danielle Cormack

      Mar 10, 2022

      Danielle Cormack
      3 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Sep 9, 2021

      Order books online at gaystheword.co.uk BOOK OF THE MONTH The uncomfortable truth about the treatment of trans people in the UK THE TRANSGENDER ISSUE: AN ARGUMENT FOR JUSTICE Shon Faye/Allen Lane A myth-busting antidote to the current media hysteria

      1 min read

    • Article

      Marc Fennell

      Sep 9, 2021

      Marc Fennell
      3 min read

    Reviews for Testimony

    3.5/5

    789 ratings98 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      The most interesting aspect of this tale is the path that an act of indiscretion sets in motion. Told in the various voices of several characters, this technique makes the telling a bit disjointed. The characters did not always seem true to their personalities. Sometimes they seemed wiser than they actually were and then later, more foolish. None were particularly likable. Indeed, the author doesn't seem to know where blame should be placed and who, if any, is more guilty than the others. Maybe that was her point: there certainly is more than two sides to this story! The end is predictable; though the author seems to want to build some suspense, it just isn't there.
    • 4/5
      I was wrong about Anita Shreve. Before picking up this novel, I assumed she was an Oprah lightweight, cranking out weepy family dramas sure to make the best seller list. On the contrary, however, I found "Testimony" well written and more intense then I expected. The story centers around a sex tape involving three male seniors and a very young freshman girl. Shreve has chosen to tell the story from a variety of angles and voices and I really liked this style. She plays around with perspective and, even though it's a little creaky at times, I liked it. I was completely hooked from start to finish. A great summer read for it's juiciness, but all in all, rather dark.
    • 3/5
      Quick read, read it in 2 days.

      3.5 stars. Finished it this morning November 13. At first I thought the book a bit weird and was on the verge of picking something else to read (very tempting cause the books I had ordered had arrived) but I am glad I decided to keep on reading. The subject was interesting but especially at the beginning the writing was a bit weird. You get to hear 1 story from various people and some stories of people appear like they just say any thought that pops up in there brains. (not many brains)
      Anyway, I did like it though. It is interesting to see how a small mistake, yes I consider this a small mistake and I can understand how this could happen, can spoil so many lifes.
    • 4/5
      This was a fast and compelling read. Shreve does a really good job of detailing the complexities of a sexual incident that happens on the grounds of a new england prep school. As an alum of one such school - i felt she wrote with authenticity about the culture and the people that you can find at such schools... it made the story feel believable to me. I think so many of these type of stories that we read about in the newspaper or see in the news have so many complicated angles that are not given any thought and are just distilled down to bare bones for public consumption. I think the story of Testimony is good to think about and remember that there is a story and a viewpoint for each and every person touched by such scandal and it can't always be just distilled easily into the good versus bad. I read it in 3 days. It feels a little salacious to read but I was really gripped by the story.
    • 5/5
      At Avery Academy - an expensive private school whose students have the brightest possible futures ahead of them - the students are carefully screened and selected to attend. These privileged and rich teenagers who enjoy the best education money can buy, can also indulge in any secret teenage vices they fancy. When a sex scandal threatens to break wide open - one that includes a video tape of seemingly consensual sex acts between a fourteen-year-old freshman and two seniors - the girl cries rape and in the resulting scandal no one comes out unscathed. Not the students involved, not the parents who send their children to the Academy. not the headmaster himself; not even the community that ignores what goes on behind the gates of the prestigious Avery Academy.I enjoyed this story very much. The writing style was slightly different from anything from Anita Shreve that I'd read before. I give it an A+!
    • 4/5
      I admit to being a fan of Anita Shreve, but I have to tell you that I had some reservations about this novel after reading so many mixed reviews. It seems that this was a book that people either loved or hated, and I can now be added to the side of people that loved this novel. I am thinking that it is the subject matter of the sex scandal in a private school that caused so many people to be turned off by this novel, but I find this to be a realistic probability and although it wasn't fun to read at times, I found that I couldn't put the book down.Every chapter of this novel alternates to various characters throughout the book. I usually enjoy books that are written in this format, so this one is not an exception. I think my only complaint about this book is that we are given the perspective of maybe too many characters for my taste. Sometimes at the beginning of a chapter I would have to stop and think about who was narrating and how that specific person was affected by the scandal.The sex scandal involves a few students of the private high school that come from various walks of life. One is a nice local boy, another is a sharp young man that has already been accepted to a prestigious college, while another is not quite as bright as he had to repeat a year. The older student is able to provide them with alcohol for the evening and for some reason events just spin out of control.Shreve does a beautiful job of unraveling this disturbing tale that takes us through the events that lead up to the incident. I love the human element of the emotions and feelings of all who were involved and effected by the mistakes that these kids made.I don't think I can tell you any more about this story without giving too much away so I am going to leave it at that. Even though I know many people have not liked this book, I really believe that it would make a great book club discussion. With themes of deceit, mistakes, and justice, this book could spark quite an interesting discussion.
    • 2/5
      Shreve writes a novel about a sex scandal at an English Boarding School. **Warning - The book begins with the sordid details** the book picks up years later with all the players involved trying play off two precepts - one things are murkier than just black/white or right/wrong; and two what are the after effects years later on the players involved in a scandal. I've enjoyed several of Shreve's novels, but this one was too disjointed and unnerving.
    • 2/5
      Testimony - I do solemnly swear that this book is below average.I found this book abandoned on the train and saved it from the rubbish collector. Blank pages had been torn out for notepaper and that lack of respect should have warned me what to expect. A sex party in a high school is videoed and the book explores the perspectives of the various individuals affected by the outcome, which includes a suicide. Each chapter is written from the perspective of an individual, narrator and tense varying. The writing is good enough. After all, Shreve is a prodigeous author. The plot has the right components. But the first, outrageous chapter is almost the only eventful one. There is some captivation as the affair develops between the headmaster and Silas's mother, but otherwise it falls flat. Even the account of Silas's death is widely telegraphed. This could have been a good book if the sex scene were placed somewhere other than the start, building up to the climax rather than six pages of action and 300 of back story. I can imagine the author and publisher / agent arguing about the commerciality of doing so. There is a definite mismatch between the type of reader who would find the explicit first chapter entertaining and the type that would enjoy the meandering back story that follows.
    • 5/5
      As the parent of a 20year old son, this was tough to read. Dean of a boarding school receives a tape of three male student/athletes and a 14 year old female boarding student engaging in sexual acts. The story goes back and forth and from person to person involved as to the events, what lead up to them and the aftermath. Chilling story and a reminder that in the age of YouTube, nothing's private or a secret
    • 4/5
      A great read. I love books that make you take a hard look at your beliefs and challenge them in some way. Definitely stirs your emotions - good and bad.
    • 5/5
      This book was really a pleasant surprise. I've read several of Anita Shreve's, and I've generally thought her subject matter was fairly interesting, but was never really blown away by any of them. This has easily been my favorite thus far. Basic plot summary: teenage sex scandal at a private school...A videotape is released & repurcussions follow. This was told from a variety of character perspectives, both major and minor. It brought to the surface a lot of varied emotions and allows the reader to see a situation from a not-so-narrow-minded point of view. I earread this on audio, and thought it was read very well by a cast of readers. The only complaint I have is that it did jump back & forth in time which was mildly confusing, as well as the variation of 1st person/3rd person/omniscient narrator. I think I may have enjoyed it even more had it been all in 1st person narration. But regardless, a very good novel.
    • 5/5
      A sex scandal at a New England boarding school unleashes a storm of shame and recrimination throughout the small community. A chorus of voices--those of the men, women, and teenagers involved--details the events of that night and their aftermath.Writing with a pace and intensity surpassing even her own greatest work, Anita Shreve brings us a gripping emotional drama with the impact of a thriller. No one more compellinglyexplores the impulses that drive ordinary people into intolerable dilemmas, or the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment.
    • 3/5
      Told in many voices, the story of a sex scandal at a private high school. Moves fast. Satisfying.
    • 4/5
      Testimony is a reprint of a book that was originally published Oct 2008, but the story is just as riveting today as it was then!A story that revolves around one reckless act. Three promising young men who attend Avery Academy, filled with alcohol and raging hormones shed their inhibitions and have sex with a fourteen year old girl, since they are over eighteen and she is underage it is considered a criminal act. Someone tapes the entire act and gives it to Mike Bordwin the headmaster of the school. The fallout from the scandal is life changing.We hear this story from several different perspectives, from the people involved in the scandal, as well as the adults who attempted to handle the problem, and throughout you really knew that there were no bad guys in this story, just a reckless act that should have never happened!This was a very fast paced story, one that I really couldn't put down. The author wrote the story in such a way as you felt like you knew the people involved, the storytelling was just amazing, she was able to tell this story with many different perspectives, sometimes this comes off as confusing but not so in this book, I felt like it really added to the story. Even though this story is geared toward adult readers, I think it might be great for older teens to read, to remind them of actions and consequences, and how easily just a few hours can change someones life in ways that they could never imagine.If you enjoy compelling fast paced stories, where there is no clear cut villain, that deals with issues that face teens everyday, such as alcohol and sexual activity, then this book might be for you.
    • 5/5
      When I first started this book, I wasn't sure if I liked it. I thought, too many characters, hard to keep track of all of them and their role in the events of the book. But as I soldiered on (because Shreve is one of my favorite authors), I became wrapped up in the story and ended the book thinking it was very, very good and was so glad I didn't give up on it. There are many themes in this book, but the main one was how a couple of events and some very poor choices can have a huge ripple effect and change the lives of so many people in profound ways. An excellent read.
    • 5/5
      I thought this book was great! It's got drama, romance, and mystery rolled into one dynamic page-turner. Set at a private boarding school in Vermont, Testimony is the story of an alleged sexual assault and the unsettling ways it affects so many different lives. Told primarily in first person narration, by all of those directly concerned with the case, the book gets under the reader's skin, as you second guess each "testimony" and try to reason out motive and consequences. In the end, the sensational case comes down to a matter of poor choices people sometimes make when they let their guard down. It's a simple premise, but engrossing and genuinely portrayed. I can't think of anything that would have made this book any better.
    • 4/5
      The story of how a sex act that takes place in a boarding school can have such a devastating effect to so many people. Each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character. It tells of the events that happened and of the effects on their lives afterwards. This is really well written and a gripping read.
    • 4/5
      Rape of 14 yo at vermont boarding school seen from lots of people's point of view
    • 3/5
      Probably my least favorite of Shreve's books (and I've read almost all of them). The story is about what happens to several members of a private preparatory school community in the aftermath of sexual assault. There was much that was sad in this story, and many of the characters were truly unlikeable (including, sadly enough, the woman who was assaulted). The rest of this could probably be considered spoilerish: I had a problem with the way the sexual assault was portrayed in this book, painting the young woman as having clearly been responsible for the incident. This is how so many real-life rapes are described, when in reality the women in question were most certainly NOT responsible for being assaulted. While certainly it is possible for a scenario like this to happen, it's not nearly as common as our society would like us to believe (because society has quite a lot invested in blaming rape victims, rather than placing the blame where it belongs, on the perpetrators). So, from that standpoint, I didn't enjoy reading yet another tale where the woman was the foul seductress, ruining the lives of otherwise upstanding "boys." (Although, in this case only one of them was portrayed as completely sympathetic). Even putting that aside, though, I still came away from the book feeling dissatisfied. The only really likable - and most blameless - characters in the book are the ones who suffer the most, and there is nothing redeeming at the end to justify or ameliorate this. Especially considering how much I have enjoyed some of Shreve's other books, I found this one to be a big disappointment.
    • 5/5
      Let me start off by saying that I could not believe how many characters were in this book. I started the book and when I seen how many characters there were I ended up keeping a pen and paper by me and wrote down each person and how they related to another person in the story. If I wouldn't have done that I think the book would have been hard for me to understand and remember who was who. After saying that I really liked this book. The word that comes to my mind when I think about this book is intense. The story is just so real. Thinks like this happen all of the time and it really makes you think. Even though Silas was one of the boys in the tape I really feel like he had so much going on and that in a split second he made a really bad choice that unfortunately changed his life and many others. As for Silas' girlfriend Noelle, I really felt for her. She was in love and was looking into the future and seeing all that was going to be and in a few minutes everything changed. And Rob's mom Ellen, I can see myself as her for a second. I have two boys of my own and seeing myself getting a call like she did really just opens your eyes and makes you think about things. The way she tells the story makes it seem like it really is happening to you. She puts you in her shoes. Like I said, the story is just so intense. There are quit a few people in the story but these three I really connected to and related with in the story and wanted to write them in my review. But this book was amazing! I would recommend it to everyone!
    • 4/5
      I want to give enough positives so you will be intrigued enough to read this book, but not set expectations so high that you will think it is fantastic. Not sure how to walk this balancing act. The story in "Testimony" is fantastic. If you think of the ripple affect you will have an idea where Anita Shreve is taking you. It is amazingly intertwined and gives a realistic depiction of how all of our lives are so delicately balanced. The delivery is distracting and cumbersome. Anita uses the first person for dozens of voices and she does an average job at best in delivering each one with their own personality."Testimony" is set in Vermont at a private school, Avery Academy, and takes you through the lives of the headmaster and several of the students. In the midst of this tranquil environment a sexual encounter occurs between several students and with the new age of the interne, it is broadcast to the public very quickly. Interestingly enough the children, who all go to the same school, are of varying ages. The girl is fourteen and the boys are eighteen and nineteen. While the law is very clear cut in this matter, reality is a little more obscure on when a child becomes an adult.In the middle of this scandal there are various catalysts that all form a triangle leading to the destruction of many lives and in some cases even death. The public finger pointing, the presses relentless pursuit of a story and the fumbled attempts to keep things quiet all play a part in escalating the event beyond a mere night of sexual exploration. What if, what if, what if, can be asked hundreds of times, but always in reflection. Sadly the events have already occurred.I loved the story, enjoyed the book and would recommend it to all teenagers as a must read, and to most adults as well. The delivery Anita chose is very distracting. She made a valiant attempt at delivering each characters perspective but you do get lost at times in the first person perspective coming at you from so many different angles. Toward the end of the book she even introduces a cafeteria worker and her perspective on preparing meals which seemed completely unnecessary. It took you away from focusing on the story and the characters she has so brilliantly crafted.So in a nutshell, the book is definitely worth reading. You will enjoy it immensely, just be prepared to trudge through some obscurity as you jump from one person telling the story to another. I think Anita was actually trying to enlighten the reader by choosing this unique style but I fear it had the opposite effect. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and absolutely loved the story.
    • 4/5
      Three young men at a private school ruin their lives when they get drunk and are videotaped in compromising situation with an underage girl. This book is the story of the young men and their families and their teachers and the young girl. I found the strength of the book to be in the way it was told. I liked the way the author told the story in chapters using various points of view. It felt very real. I thought the tale was a bit too Oprah-ish, the social problem of the week. None of the characters was terribly likable, except for Silas who seemed to have been caught up in the drinking amid family difficulties and was a victim of circumstances. All in all, a ho-hum Shreve.
    • 2/5
      Told in multiple points of view, this novel shows how one stupid, poor choice can have devastating effects. The headmaster of a private school receives a videotape of a 14-yr-old student girl involved in sexual activity with several older student boys. The mistakes of the kids compounded by the mistakes of the headmaster spiral out of control.The narrators of the audiobook are very good but Shreve's descriptive, metaphor-laden writing style is melodramatic and tiresome. Also, some of the characters' thoughts don't ring true. For example, Noel is a naive teenage girl in love but Shreve gives her insightful, almost poetic thoughts. Another character explains her infidelity with one breathless phrase: "I wanted." The ending was predictable and none of the characters particularly likable.
    • 4/5
      Testimony started out a little slow for me. After about 3 chapters I started to enjoy the story. Testimony is about private school in Vermont. The school is Avery Academy. There is an incident among a 14 year old girl and 3 boys ranging in the ages of 18 and 19.When light of the incident becomes the knowledge of the headmaster, Mr. Bordwin, he tries to keep everything in house. He questions the involved students one by one. After he speaks to the girl the girl decides to call her parents and cry about what happened. Her father tells her to call the police because she was raped.I did not care for the girl in this story because I felt that she was a manipulator and instigator of the whole incident, even though she was only 14. Just by the way her character was written gave me that impression.I would give this book a rating of 4 stars.
    • 5/5
      What a tragic yet wonderful book about the ways in which several intertwined lives can be derailed, or worse, destroyed, in one thoughtless moment. The narrative is told from several different points of view and travels back and forth through a limited period of time - this tactic might have been confusing from a lesser author, but Shreve kept each voice so clear and distinct that I had no trouble falling seamlessly into the many stories being told. The idea of teenagers and sex isn't new, nor is it often particularly interesting - here, though, the story was less about sex and more about reason and consequence, about the fine lines between action and reaction. Four students and one night had the power to change the course of history for themselves, their parents and their school at large - a power they never considered nor ever seemed fully to realize throughout the story. Shreve captured the various characters and kept them rich and true to life, and though I had a feeling early on where the story would end, I couldn't put it down until I got there and saw for myself. I highly recommend this book - 5 stars!
    • 3/5
      When a videotape surfaces, showing three boys and a girl performing sexual acts with each other, it's everyones worst nightmare. Especially when the boys are aged from seventeen to nineteen, and the girl is only fourteen, even though it appears that she was a very willing participant in the events. It seems even more shocking as all on the video were students at the private Avery Academy in Vermont, and the press has a field day, tearing apart peoples lives as they do so.This book is written as if the people involved are telling a researcher who is looking into the effects alcohol has on boys behaviour. Taken from many different viewpoints, it reaches from well before the tape was made until well after, and shows all the different events that lead up to that night.Whilst this isn't the first book I have read that deals in different viewpoints, I think that it is the one that has the most voices. We hear the stories of twenty different people, including all the people in the tape, the headmaster of the school, various parents, teachers, students etc. And it certainly gives an insight into a lot of different aspects and repercussions, including little details such as people making a fortune renting their houses out when the press need places to stay. However, there were just too many for me to be able to ever connect with the novel.There was also writing in the first, second and third person and for me, it didn't work. I was always slightly distracted by what was coming next and what technique was going to be used in the following chapter.If the writer had stuck to the main characters stories I think this would have flowed a whole lot better, instead of stopping and starting. I recognise that it was written as a testimony with all involved having their say, but it dramatically reduced the emotional impact. Some of the voices felt real but others didn't, put there simply to give an unnecessary perspective that could have been told some other way.However, the basic storyline was an interesting one, and certain viewpoints were extremely well told. For me, there was just too much going on.An interesting but muddled account of a private school scandal.
    • 4/5
      Reason for Reading: I really wanted to read this book right from when it first came out but it just kept getting pushed to the bottom of the pile. Summary: Avery is a small New England town and Avery Academy, the private high school, is the only prestigious thing about it. That is until the headmaster receives a sex tape of several students in a drunken orgy which someone has filmed. While that may not exactly be shocking these days, especially if it had come from the public school, what is shocking is those involved. One girl is only fourteen. The boys are top A students and athletes with promising futures. One boy is a day student, on a scholarship, one of "them" (a town boy), from an upstanding farm family. What follows is a retelling of the events leading up to and after that dreadful event told through the voices of those involved and many others.Comments: This was a wonderful book! I really enjoyed the read. Each chapter the voice changes from character to character, going from major players to minor characters such as teachers on staff to room mates. This is a brilliant way to keep what is actually a fairly simple plot going into many different directions. There are secrets that unfold that make the simple incident more than it seems initially. Also viewing the incident from each major character's point of view turns what at first appears to be an easy-place-blame incident into one much more profound showing one the other side, multiple other sides and the moral issues involved when one is so quick to make rash judgement on others. A very intriguing story!The characters are all developed well, at least the ones the author meant to. I became attached to a couple of the characters but knew they were doomed from the beginning. Perhaps that is why I became attached to them? There are a couple of major reveals in the book. One I had figured out from the very beginning so was rather let down that I had actually uncovered it as I think it spoilt the effect for me. If I could have been surprised/shocked over the event my rating would have been higher. All in all, though, I really enjoyed the book. Now she has a new book out, A Change in Altitude, (Sept. 09) which looks very good to me as well. I think I may have found another favourite author.
    • 3/5
      Shreve's book is a detailed examination of contemporary tragedy at a prep school in Vermont. A drinking party gone badly wrong results in a scandal and varying degrees of destruction to the lives of those involved and their families. The incident itself, the issues that set the stage for it and the aftermath are examined in delicate detail by using the voices of many of the characters, even very minor ones. Shreve also shifts POV from first person to second person and back again, with interesting and provocative effect. An excellent choice for book group reading, this short, fast read would lend itself to thoughtful discussion. Good, but not memorable.
    • 4/5
      Another readable book my Anita Shreve. My only complaint is that there seems to be too many characters 'testifying'. 50 pages until the end and she throws in the lunch lady for her point of view? Would have been the same book without her, and other characters too. But, a nice readable quick book.
    • 5/5
      This was a wonderful, tragic, and unforgettable book about actions and consequences, about sinning and redemption, about life and death, about guilt and blame. At first I found the shifting perpectives a little difficult, but once I sank into the story, I ceased to even notice. It is hard to talk about the plot without spoiling the narrative- the central element for each person's story is one bad decision that ties into the bad decisions of others eventually escalating into a terrible act. Even though it became clear fairly quickly where the story was moving, I was still gripped by the hope that I was wrong. As events unfolded as I knew they must, I couldn't stop myself from crying even though I knew the whole time exactly where we were going to end. Shreve is a gifted writer, and this is an excellent book that will stick with you long after you have finished reading. 5 strong stars- highly recommended!