Hachette Livre

Hachette Reading Group Guides

Welcome to our Reading Group guide for Testimony by Anita Shreve. We invite you to consider and discuss the following questions when reading this book:

  1. What do you think of the title Testimony? What might the reader expect before reading?
  2. In the very first paragraph of the novel Anita Shreve tells the reader much of the outcome of the story; does this technique reduce or increase the narrative tension as the reader progresses through the novel?
  3. ‘A first sentence, he [Mike] had discovered, dictated not only the tone of the tale, but also the manner in which it would be parcelled out, and he had found his first few false starts to be inhibiting. In the end, he had settled upon a factual tone that suggested a before and an after.’ Mike realises this, but would this also be a fair comment about one of Shreve’s major interests in the novel?
  4. Shreve uses an ambitious narrative structure to tell the story, and frequent changes of tense, perspective between the different narrators, and timeframe. Does this continuously shifting narrative unsettle the reader? How, morally, does the reader read the various testimonies? Could it be argued that through reading these testimonies the reader is placed in the position of a voyeur? What do you think about the language used to describe Mike watching the videotape for the very first time? And can you think of other narrative devices Shreve employs?
  5. Are there any ‘unreliable narrators’? Does speaking to the university researcher give any of the narrators a sense of redemption?
  6. Regarding the incident that led to scandal, could it be argued that J. Dot, Rob and Silas behaved well in any sense or at any point?
  7. What, exactly, is Mike first afraid of? And do these fears change as the novel progresses? Does Mike’s knowledge of his personal culpabilities make him a tragic character? Indeed, who do you feel is the most tragic character in the story? Indeed, does anyone gain from the scandal?
  8. Why does Silas feel so angry? And why does he feel especially bad after the incident? Do think he’s right to feel as he does?
  9. What do you think about what happens to Ellen? Is this a case of just desserts?
  10. Do the ordinary rules of society apply as easily in the microcosm of the school?
  11. Is Shreve drawing broad conclusions between relationships between parents and children?
  12. Several of the characters find themselves in exile and/or facing a new start; discuss how Shreve explores these notions.
  13. ‘Truthfully, I don’t think anyone’s life was ruined,’ says Rob. What is the reader to make of this statement? What do you feel about the way the novel ends?

Current Reading Group Titles

  1. The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce by Paul Torday
  2. The Disappeared by Kim Echlin
  3. The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite by Beatrice Colin
  4. Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
  5. The Other Hand by Chris Cleave
  6. Testimony by Anita Shreve
  7. Home by Marilynne Robinson
  8. The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
  9. City of Thieves by David Benioff
  10. Remembering The Bones by Frances Itani
  11. The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton
  12. Lies by Enrique de Heriz
  13. Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaardner
  14. Sorrows of an American by Siri Hustvedt
  15. Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
  16. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
  17. The Sisterhood by Emily Barr
  18. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
  19. The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie
  20. The Return by Victoria Hislop
  21. A Small Part of History by Peggy Elliott
  22. A Carrion Death by Michael Stanley
  23. Scapegallows by Carol Birch
  24. Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
  25. Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat
  26. Radiance by Shaena Lambert
  27. Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon
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  29. Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott
  30. The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
  31. Golden Age by Tahmima Anam
  32. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
  33. The Keep by Jennifer Egan
  34. The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther
  35. Pirate’s Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson
  36. The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
  37. April in Paris by Michael Wallner
  38. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
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  41. Red River by Lalita Tademy
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  43. Rosetta by Barbara Ewing
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