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Testimony by Anita Shreve "A complaint has been made to gardai after children
were allegedly handcuffed and beaten by fellow pupils on a school trip. In Testimony, a University of Vermont researcher is piecing together the stories of an underage victim of sexual assault, the participants in her rape and the wider implications of the incident. While the prose was simple and readable, Anita Shreve set challenges for the reader by using first, second and third party accounts from almost twenty persons and the use of present and past tenses throughout. Form me the most confusing elements were a boy named Rob, another named Robles and then J. Dot. As the story is one of overlapping mishaps eliminating the conjunction of these names would have helped me, as I read the book over a non-sequential series of sittings. Mike’s mishap on the black ice leads to Silas’s entry to Avery Academy, but also to Silas’s mother’s involvement with Mike, which was the catalyst for Silas’s drink-fuelled participation in the reported sexual shenanigans. The saddest part of the story was the impact on the star-crossed lovers, Silas and Noelle. Reviewed by a Kilrush Book Club Member. |
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