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Testimony
In rural Virginia in 1958, history professor Gen Rider has just secured tenure at Baines College, a private school for white women. With two strikes against her--she's a woman in a men's field, and she's a race traitor who teaches "Negro history"--Gen has accomplished the near-impossible and should be celebrating. Instead, she's mourning the break-up of a long-distance relationship with another woman--a romance she has tightly guarded, even from her straight female mentor.
Danger hits close to home when a nearby men's college uncovers a "homosexual circle" involving its faculty, staff, and students. Suspicion spreads across the two campuses, threatening Gen and her friend Fenton, the gay theater director at Baines. When a neighbor spies Gen kissing a woman in her own home, hearings into moral turpitude at the college catch her in a McCarthy-like web. With both her private life and her teaching methods under scrutiny, Gen faces an agonizing choice: Which does she value more, her career or her right to privacy?
Danger hits close to home when a nearby men's college uncovers a "homosexual circle" involving its faculty, staff, and students. Suspicion spreads across the two campuses, threatening Gen and her friend Fenton, the gay theater director at Baines. When a neighbor spies Gen kissing a woman in her own home, hearings into moral turpitude at the college catch her in a McCarthy-like web. With both her private life and her teaching methods under scrutiny, Gen faces an agonizing choice: Which does she value more, her career or her right to privacy?
275 pages, Paperback
First published January 19, 2021
3 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
Paula Martinac
17 books34 followersI'm the author of seven novels, including the most recent Dear Miss Cushman (12/7/21); Testimony (2021); Clio Rising (2019), Gold Medal Finalist, Northeast Region, Independent Publisher Book Awards; The Ada Decades (2017), a finalist for the 2018 Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction; and the Lambda Literary Award-winning Out of Time, which was a finalist for the American Library Association Gay and Lesbian Book Award. I've also published three nonfiction books on LGBT themes; authored plays that were produced in Pittsburgh, New York, and D.C.; and written an award-winning full-length screenplay. I'm a lecturer in the undergraduate creative writing program at UNC Charlotte and a writing instructor with Charlotte Center for the Literary Arts. In 2019, I was lucky to receive fellowships from the Arts and Science Council (Charlotte/Mecklenburg County) and the North Carolina Arts Council, which helped me write my upcoming novel, Dear Miss Cushman (2021).
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 8, 2021
Testimony by Paula Martinac is a historical fiction novel inspired by the true story of Martha Deane, a professor at UCLA.
In 1952, Deane was suspended without pay because a neighbor had seen her kissing a woman through a window in Deane’s own house and reported it to the school. That was all it took back then to ruin a person’s career. Deane was lucky in the sense that her fellow female teachers banded together to help her through the hearings which took months. In the end, she still lost her teaching position, but received compensation from the school and had the records of the hearings “supposedly” purged. They were kept secret until the early 2000’s when a historian found them by accident.
This was not unusual for the time period. Homophobia and discrimination were the norm, and many businesses and schools openly hunted LGBTQ+ people down with the intention of getting rid of them through firings, expulsions and even arrests. Gays and Lesbians had no privacy rights. They could and often were spied on by neighbors or fellow workers whose testimony ruined many lives.
This is the story being told here in a fictionalized version. The author moved the setting to a different state and used a different school. She also moved the time to a later year and obviously fictionalized the characters, but the spirit of what happened in real life to Martha Deane and thousands of other gays and lesbians is recorded here.
Ms. Martinac did an amazing job with these characters. They are all written so realistically, I felt like they could step from the pages of the book and be as real as you and I. The characters really do make this story, especially the secondary characters who fought to help Gen, the main character as she worked her way through this nightmare situation. And in spite of the heavy subject matter, this book does have a somewhat uplifting ending.
In many ways, this is not an easy book to read, but I’m sure it was not an easy time to live through either. It is our history though, and that is something we should never forget. If we do, we may end up having to repeat it, so read this book, and keep our stories alive. Testimony has my highest recommendation.
I received an ARC from Bywater Books for an honest review.
Rainbow Reflections: http://rainbowreflections.home.blog/
In 1952, Deane was suspended without pay because a neighbor had seen her kissing a woman through a window in Deane’s own house and reported it to the school. That was all it took back then to ruin a person’s career. Deane was lucky in the sense that her fellow female teachers banded together to help her through the hearings which took months. In the end, she still lost her teaching position, but received compensation from the school and had the records of the hearings “supposedly” purged. They were kept secret until the early 2000’s when a historian found them by accident.
This was not unusual for the time period. Homophobia and discrimination were the norm, and many businesses and schools openly hunted LGBTQ+ people down with the intention of getting rid of them through firings, expulsions and even arrests. Gays and Lesbians had no privacy rights. They could and often were spied on by neighbors or fellow workers whose testimony ruined many lives.
This is the story being told here in a fictionalized version. The author moved the setting to a different state and used a different school. She also moved the time to a later year and obviously fictionalized the characters, but the spirit of what happened in real life to Martha Deane and thousands of other gays and lesbians is recorded here.
Ms. Martinac did an amazing job with these characters. They are all written so realistically, I felt like they could step from the pages of the book and be as real as you and I. The characters really do make this story, especially the secondary characters who fought to help Gen, the main character as she worked her way through this nightmare situation. And in spite of the heavy subject matter, this book does have a somewhat uplifting ending.
In many ways, this is not an easy book to read, but I’m sure it was not an easy time to live through either. It is our history though, and that is something we should never forget. If we do, we may end up having to repeat it, so read this book, and keep our stories alive. Testimony has my highest recommendation.
I received an ARC from Bywater Books for an honest review.
Rainbow Reflections: http://rainbowreflections.home.blog/
April 6, 2024
I knew Testimony would be a hard book to read and it was. But it was wonderful. I wish there were more books like this in the genre.
Set in 1960 in a small college town in Virginia, Dr. Gen Rider has just achieved a tenure at a women's college, where she teaches history with a focus on the growing Civil Rights Movement. Her personal life, in contrast, isn't going as well. She has recently broken up with her long-distance girlfriend and has no one she can turn to as she grieves the loss of her 6-year relationship, since she can't trust anyone with the fact that she's a lesbian. But all things considered, things are going relatively well for her. Until a male colleague at the university is arrested, having been caught having sex with a man. And now Gen and her queer colleagues live in fear about the possibility that they're next.
I liked this novel from go, but due to the angst of the subject matter, I found I needed breaks to prepare myself for what was coming next, so it was a slower-than-normal read for me. I read the first half over 4 days and read the final half in a few hours. So, even with the angst, it does pick up. And while I wouldn't classify this as a romance, there is a sapphic romance within these pages, which is secondary to the plot.
If I have a complaint, it would be that I think there were too many narrative voices without a lot of balance between. I know why Fenton, Gen's gay colleague and best friend in town, takes up so much narrative space, but I found it strange when other characters would feature only a small handful of times. It just seems like a convenient (read: lazy) narrative device. But that's a minor complaint in what is a compelling novel.
Set in 1960 in a small college town in Virginia, Dr. Gen Rider has just achieved a tenure at a women's college, where she teaches history with a focus on the growing Civil Rights Movement. Her personal life, in contrast, isn't going as well. She has recently broken up with her long-distance girlfriend and has no one she can turn to as she grieves the loss of her 6-year relationship, since she can't trust anyone with the fact that she's a lesbian. But all things considered, things are going relatively well for her. Until a male colleague at the university is arrested, having been caught having sex with a man. And now Gen and her queer colleagues live in fear about the possibility that they're next.
I liked this novel from go, but due to the angst of the subject matter, I found I needed breaks to prepare myself for what was coming next, so it was a slower-than-normal read for me. I read the first half over 4 days and read the final half in a few hours. So, even with the angst, it does pick up. And while I wouldn't classify this as a romance, there is a sapphic romance within these pages, which is secondary to the plot.
If I have a complaint, it would be that I think there were too many narrative voices without a lot of balance between. I know why Fenton, Gen's gay colleague and best friend in town, takes up so much narrative space, but I found it strange when other characters would feature only a small handful of times. It just seems like a convenient (read: lazy) narrative device. But that's a minor complaint in what is a compelling novel.
January 23, 2021
"Testimony" is based on a real-life case against a professor at UCLA suspended in 1952 (without pay) after being observed through her own window kissing another woman.
Can you say invasion of privacy?
Sorry, I digress.
Testimony's main character, Gen, is based on the very real professor Martha Deane. I don't know if Gen's personality was entirely her own, or if it was borrowed from Professor Deane, but to me, Gen seemed as real as you or me. I could hear her voice in my head as she taught, as she had drinks with Fenton and tried to live life under the social-police radar. My heart broke for Fenton, and there were a few times I just wanted to pour him a drink and tell him it would get better.
All of the characters stood in their own limelight - sharply crafted, finely tuned in their own ways and each with their own struggles. Ruby became a favourite of mine too.
The homophobia of that time period was written as an appropriately tense undercurrent that dominated the entire landscape of the novel. You couldn't help feel the danger underlying every decision, every conversation and almost every character. Over this dark skeleton, the author built a highly readable tale that stays with the reader long after the last word of the acknowledgements has been consumed.
This is a novel that should be required reading. For everyone. This is a novel that should be an award-winner.
Can you say invasion of privacy?
Sorry, I digress.
Testimony's main character, Gen, is based on the very real professor Martha Deane. I don't know if Gen's personality was entirely her own, or if it was borrowed from Professor Deane, but to me, Gen seemed as real as you or me. I could hear her voice in my head as she taught, as she had drinks with Fenton and tried to live life under the social-police radar. My heart broke for Fenton, and there were a few times I just wanted to pour him a drink and tell him it would get better.
All of the characters stood in their own limelight - sharply crafted, finely tuned in their own ways and each with their own struggles. Ruby became a favourite of mine too.
The homophobia of that time period was written as an appropriately tense undercurrent that dominated the entire landscape of the novel. You couldn't help feel the danger underlying every decision, every conversation and almost every character. Over this dark skeleton, the author built a highly readable tale that stays with the reader long after the last word of the acknowledgements has been consumed.
This is a novel that should be required reading. For everyone. This is a novel that should be an award-winner.
January 18, 2021
‘I like to draw connections between the past and present..’
North Carolina author Paula Martinac has published six novels as well as an anthology of short stories and three nonfiction books on lesbian and gay culture and politics and has been honored with the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction and other significant recognitions. In addition to her books, articles and short stories, Paula is a playwright whose plays have enjoyed wide performances. She teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte and is a writing coach for Charlotte Center for the Literary Arts.
In this new novel Paula takes on discrimination, stating, ‘Many of the challenges LGBTQ people faced in the past – job discrimination, lack of social acceptance and civil rights – still resonate today, Yet mainstream history has mostly erased the impact LGBTQ Americans have had on social justice, political, and cultural movements in this country, As a rule, our history isn’t taught in schools or heralded by families because it’s been attached to shame, and even sin.’
Paula addresses this void in TESTIMONY, yet another excellent novel that offers sure entertainment as well as providing important food for thought. The setting is described as follows: ‘In rural Virginia in 1960, history professor Gen Rider has secured tenure at Baines College, a private school for white women. A woman in a man’s field, she teaches “Negro” history, which has made her suspect with a powerful male colleague. Even while she’s celebrating her triumph, she’s also mourning the break-up of a long-distance relationship with another woman―a romance she has tightly guarded, even from her straight female mentor. As the fall semester dawns, a male instructor at the college is arrested for having sex with a man in a park. Homosexual panic envelops the college town, launching a “Know Your Neighbor” reporting campaign. The police investigation directly threatens Gen’s friend Fenton, the gay theater director at Baines. But Gen finds herself vulnerable, too, when someone leaves mysterious “gifts” for her, including a suggestive pulp novel and a romantic card. As Gen tentatively embarks on a new relationship, a neighbor reports she’s seen Gen kissing a woman, and hearings into her morality catch her in a McCarthy-like web. With her private life under the microscope, Gen faces an agonizing choice: Which does she value more, the career she’s scraped to build against the odds or her right to a private life?’
Powerfully written with expressive language that makes each of her characters present in our minds, this is a book that deserves wide attention – now that we are beginning to open doors of understanding with such luminaries as the members of the MSNBC reporting staff, new presidential appointees under Biden, TV personalities, etc.. Paula Martinac continues to be an important spokesperson. Recommended
North Carolina author Paula Martinac has published six novels as well as an anthology of short stories and three nonfiction books on lesbian and gay culture and politics and has been honored with the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction and other significant recognitions. In addition to her books, articles and short stories, Paula is a playwright whose plays have enjoyed wide performances. She teaches creative writing at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte and is a writing coach for Charlotte Center for the Literary Arts.
In this new novel Paula takes on discrimination, stating, ‘Many of the challenges LGBTQ people faced in the past – job discrimination, lack of social acceptance and civil rights – still resonate today, Yet mainstream history has mostly erased the impact LGBTQ Americans have had on social justice, political, and cultural movements in this country, As a rule, our history isn’t taught in schools or heralded by families because it’s been attached to shame, and even sin.’
Paula addresses this void in TESTIMONY, yet another excellent novel that offers sure entertainment as well as providing important food for thought. The setting is described as follows: ‘In rural Virginia in 1960, history professor Gen Rider has secured tenure at Baines College, a private school for white women. A woman in a man’s field, she teaches “Negro” history, which has made her suspect with a powerful male colleague. Even while she’s celebrating her triumph, she’s also mourning the break-up of a long-distance relationship with another woman―a romance she has tightly guarded, even from her straight female mentor. As the fall semester dawns, a male instructor at the college is arrested for having sex with a man in a park. Homosexual panic envelops the college town, launching a “Know Your Neighbor” reporting campaign. The police investigation directly threatens Gen’s friend Fenton, the gay theater director at Baines. But Gen finds herself vulnerable, too, when someone leaves mysterious “gifts” for her, including a suggestive pulp novel and a romantic card. As Gen tentatively embarks on a new relationship, a neighbor reports she’s seen Gen kissing a woman, and hearings into her morality catch her in a McCarthy-like web. With her private life under the microscope, Gen faces an agonizing choice: Which does she value more, the career she’s scraped to build against the odds or her right to a private life?’
Powerfully written with expressive language that makes each of her characters present in our minds, this is a book that deserves wide attention – now that we are beginning to open doors of understanding with such luminaries as the members of the MSNBC reporting staff, new presidential appointees under Biden, TV personalities, etc.. Paula Martinac continues to be an important spokesperson. Recommended
January 23, 2021
This story is extraordinary! Martinac has created an absolute incredible piece of fiction! Her narrative is beyond compelling! The storytelling is simply phenomenal and astonishingly gripping. It leaves an indelible impression; one can almost feel the marks. Readers will remember Testimony long after they digest its last word.
Much of Martinac’s story is based on the 1952 case against Martha Deane, a respected full professor at UCLA who was suspended without pay after kissing a woman. The incident was reported to the dean by a neighbor who had observed the two through Deane’s own window. Deane underwent a lengthy and costly hearing that, in reality, was nothing short of a witch hunt. UCLA eventually reached a settlement with Deane and she left her teaching position at the university. Upon her leaving, the administration buried Deane’s case deep within its records, obviously hoping it would never be found. However, it was stumbled upon nearly fifty years later by a historian conducting research regarding the Cold War loyalty oath at UCLA. This accidental unearthing brought the whole ugly incident to light once again and highlighted the horrors of homophobia. Sadly, condemnation for sexual preference is still prevalent today.
Testimony, is set in a small collegiate town in southwestern Virginian in 196O. The story takes place during a time when civil rights are being hard fought and homosexuals must hide who they are just to survive. Gen Rider has dedicated her academic career to succeeding and gaining tenure at Baines College for Women, an all-girls college founded for Christian white women. She understands better than most how dangerous it is to raise suspision to one’s sexuality, and she hides hers with a vigilance. She worries for her friends that don’t conduct themselves with this same dilligence. She fears their reckless sexual encounters put their jobs and lives at risk. Ironically, after years of discretion and secrecy, she finds herself yeilding to a night of passion with a colleague. That one moment of weakness causes her to defend everything she holds dear. She learns first hand how quickly the insidious nature of homophobia can destroy so much in one’s life.
Final remarks…
This story needs to be read. It is a powerful and consuming story that is so brilliantly well-done. Gin Rider isn’t real, but her story is for so many. She is a remarkable character, and one I will not soon forget. Testimony is a moving story and I applaud Paula Martinac for putting it to paper and bringing it to life so eloquently.
Strengths…
well-written
poignant
gripping
engaging
emotional
moving
Much of Martinac’s story is based on the 1952 case against Martha Deane, a respected full professor at UCLA who was suspended without pay after kissing a woman. The incident was reported to the dean by a neighbor who had observed the two through Deane’s own window. Deane underwent a lengthy and costly hearing that, in reality, was nothing short of a witch hunt. UCLA eventually reached a settlement with Deane and she left her teaching position at the university. Upon her leaving, the administration buried Deane’s case deep within its records, obviously hoping it would never be found. However, it was stumbled upon nearly fifty years later by a historian conducting research regarding the Cold War loyalty oath at UCLA. This accidental unearthing brought the whole ugly incident to light once again and highlighted the horrors of homophobia. Sadly, condemnation for sexual preference is still prevalent today.
Testimony, is set in a small collegiate town in southwestern Virginian in 196O. The story takes place during a time when civil rights are being hard fought and homosexuals must hide who they are just to survive. Gen Rider has dedicated her academic career to succeeding and gaining tenure at Baines College for Women, an all-girls college founded for Christian white women. She understands better than most how dangerous it is to raise suspision to one’s sexuality, and she hides hers with a vigilance. She worries for her friends that don’t conduct themselves with this same dilligence. She fears their reckless sexual encounters put their jobs and lives at risk. Ironically, after years of discretion and secrecy, she finds herself yeilding to a night of passion with a colleague. That one moment of weakness causes her to defend everything she holds dear. She learns first hand how quickly the insidious nature of homophobia can destroy so much in one’s life.
Final remarks…
This story needs to be read. It is a powerful and consuming story that is so brilliantly well-done. Gin Rider isn’t real, but her story is for so many. She is a remarkable character, and one I will not soon forget. Testimony is a moving story and I applaud Paula Martinac for putting it to paper and bringing it to life so eloquently.
Strengths…
well-written
poignant
gripping
engaging
emotional
moving
February 12, 2021
I liked Martinac’s Clio Rising so much and this was the only other book of hers our library had, so naturally I decided to check it out. Continuing with the theme of historical gay dramas, this book was actually inspired by a real life discrimination case from 1952, where a teacher’s life was wrecked due to her being gay, privately, of course, but it didn’t matter.
This story takes place in 1960/61 (fact that GR’s description gets peculiarly wrong), but intervening years have done diddly squat as far as social mentality goes, so when a well respected local professor gets seen kissing another woman in her own kitchen, her entire livelihood is suddenly on trial. Now she has to decide whether it’s worth it to fight, with fight or flight being the main choices. This is, after all, a small southern town (in Virginia no less) the antithesis of progressive thinking. Oh Gen, what were you thinking being gay and getting a job in Virginia? Teaching African American studies, advocating for African American rights? Just how much controversy can one woman court?
And if you’re thinking…well, that was then, considering this…the LGBT workplace protection laws didn’t even make an appearance in the US until 1970s and guess which state just got those? Ding, ding, ding, that’s right…Virginia, proudly holding out until 2020. Presumably all these years with their state motto being Virginia’s for Lovers, they were very specific about what kind of lovers.
But politics aside and back to the book, I must say I didn’t like it nearly as much as Clio’s Rising. Didn’t enjoy the characters or the story as much. It kind of seemed like the author tried to cram too many teachable moments and morals into one book, from racial politics to gay rights to gender discrimination and it kind of took away from the story. Or maybe the characters just lacked the charisma of Clio and Livvie and others. It was still a good book and I enjoyed reading it and wouldn’t mind reading more from the author. And it is important that these stories are told, because mistakes not learned from tend to be repeated. But maybe with slightly less very well meant, but heavyhanded morality next time.
And let’s all take a moment to welcome Virginia to the brave new world of (legally protected in the workplace) lovers of every color of the rainbow and hope it’ll be just as welcoming in return, it is, after all, their claim to fame.
This story takes place in 1960/61 (fact that GR’s description gets peculiarly wrong), but intervening years have done diddly squat as far as social mentality goes, so when a well respected local professor gets seen kissing another woman in her own kitchen, her entire livelihood is suddenly on trial. Now she has to decide whether it’s worth it to fight, with fight or flight being the main choices. This is, after all, a small southern town (in Virginia no less) the antithesis of progressive thinking. Oh Gen, what were you thinking being gay and getting a job in Virginia? Teaching African American studies, advocating for African American rights? Just how much controversy can one woman court?
And if you’re thinking…well, that was then, considering this…the LGBT workplace protection laws didn’t even make an appearance in the US until 1970s and guess which state just got those? Ding, ding, ding, that’s right…Virginia, proudly holding out until 2020. Presumably all these years with their state motto being Virginia’s for Lovers, they were very specific about what kind of lovers.
But politics aside and back to the book, I must say I didn’t like it nearly as much as Clio’s Rising. Didn’t enjoy the characters or the story as much. It kind of seemed like the author tried to cram too many teachable moments and morals into one book, from racial politics to gay rights to gender discrimination and it kind of took away from the story. Or maybe the characters just lacked the charisma of Clio and Livvie and others. It was still a good book and I enjoyed reading it and wouldn’t mind reading more from the author. And it is important that these stories are told, because mistakes not learned from tend to be repeated. But maybe with slightly less very well meant, but heavyhanded morality next time.
And let’s all take a moment to welcome Virginia to the brave new world of (legally protected in the workplace) lovers of every color of the rainbow and hope it’ll be just as welcoming in return, it is, after all, their claim to fame.
January 13, 2022
This is a first-rate lesbian novel. Set in a women's college in 1960 Virginia, it shows how virulent hatred of lesbians and gays was. The protagonist, history professor Gen Rider, is one of the few whites to focus on Black (then called Negro) history. Martinac artfully compares and contrasts anti-gay actions with even deadlier racist actions.
One of Gen's friends is Fenton, a gay man, the director of the campus theater. One of his friends is arrested for public sex. Gen is shocked, but opposed to the arrest and prosecution. The friendship and tensions between Gen and Fenton are believable and moving.
Although Gen is the soul of discretion, she becomes the target of a witch hunt.
I particularly enjoy novels with an academic setting. This is a fine one, with a believable sometimes clueless faculty and sometimes malevolent administrators--and parents.
Of course, there is a romance, also quite believable.
One of Gen's friends is Fenton, a gay man, the director of the campus theater. One of his friends is arrested for public sex. Gen is shocked, but opposed to the arrest and prosecution. The friendship and tensions between Gen and Fenton are believable and moving.
Although Gen is the soul of discretion, she becomes the target of a witch hunt.
I particularly enjoy novels with an academic setting. This is a fine one, with a believable sometimes clueless faculty and sometimes malevolent administrators--and parents.
Of course, there is a romance, also quite believable.
January 9, 2022
This started a little slow, but soon drew me into its web. There is a continual sense of building dread throughout the novel that keeps you turning the pages.
Inspired by true events, testimony takes you on a gut-wrenching journey. The writing was true to the time period and I felt myself oscillating between outrage, sadness, hope, and the feeling of injustice. Even the resolution, while not terrible, left a nasty taste in my mouth because it still represented the futility of the times.
This is a novel that makes you reflect on the past, and while certain things have changed, there are many issues and sentiments expressed that a fair percentage of readers will still relate to on 2022, particularly in the United States.
I enjoyed this read and recommend it to anyone who is interested in Mid 20th century lesbian history in America.
Inspired by true events, testimony takes you on a gut-wrenching journey. The writing was true to the time period and I felt myself oscillating between outrage, sadness, hope, and the feeling of injustice. Even the resolution, while not terrible, left a nasty taste in my mouth because it still represented the futility of the times.
This is a novel that makes you reflect on the past, and while certain things have changed, there are many issues and sentiments expressed that a fair percentage of readers will still relate to on 2022, particularly in the United States.
I enjoyed this read and recommend it to anyone who is interested in Mid 20th century lesbian history in America.
March 31, 2021
Based on a historical case Martinac's elegant page-turner will make you wonder just how much or how little times have changed. A resonant book for our time, for any time.
August 8, 2021
My review of this book appears in Historical Novels Review issue 97 (August 2021):
Reading this thoughtful novel reminds today’s readers that nostalgia for the mid-20th century often glosses over the racism and sexism that were not just attitudes of many Americans, but were enforced with repressive laws and policies that are still used against marginalized people today. Martinac’s setting is an idyllic rural Virginia women’s college in 1960, where Gen Rider, the lone female history professor, struggles to enlighten classes of privileged white girls about Civil War-era slavery. She also struggles to hide her grief over a failed relationship with another woman. Her best friend, drama teacher Fenton Page, is likewise in crisis over his fears that a former lover, recently arrested for a homosexual encounter with a Black man, will implicate him as well. Both characters offer alternating points of view, along with a few other faculty and students at Blaine College, creating a detailed portrait of McCarthy-era America on the cusp of the transformative Kennedy years.
This novel is timely because the threats faced sixty years ago by Gen and Fenton—sodomy laws, misogyny, gay conversion therapy, surveillance by malevolent neighbors, and attempts to censor education about America’s history of racism—continue to harm LGBTQ and BIPOC people. The last section of the novel includes testimony by Gen and Fenton’s colleagues and neighbors that remind readers how difficult it was even for well-intentioned straight allies to speak out against institutional bigotry. Lightening the grimness is the fact that Gen and Fenton are sympathetic characters; the setting also evokes the pleasures of academic life that attracted two such intelligent people to it despite its restrictions. Ultimately, this novel celebrates the bravery not only of the pre-Stonewall generation of LGBTQ people but also of the allies who were willing to risk their own careers and relationships to stand up for them.
Reading this thoughtful novel reminds today’s readers that nostalgia for the mid-20th century often glosses over the racism and sexism that were not just attitudes of many Americans, but were enforced with repressive laws and policies that are still used against marginalized people today. Martinac’s setting is an idyllic rural Virginia women’s college in 1960, where Gen Rider, the lone female history professor, struggles to enlighten classes of privileged white girls about Civil War-era slavery. She also struggles to hide her grief over a failed relationship with another woman. Her best friend, drama teacher Fenton Page, is likewise in crisis over his fears that a former lover, recently arrested for a homosexual encounter with a Black man, will implicate him as well. Both characters offer alternating points of view, along with a few other faculty and students at Blaine College, creating a detailed portrait of McCarthy-era America on the cusp of the transformative Kennedy years.
This novel is timely because the threats faced sixty years ago by Gen and Fenton—sodomy laws, misogyny, gay conversion therapy, surveillance by malevolent neighbors, and attempts to censor education about America’s history of racism—continue to harm LGBTQ and BIPOC people. The last section of the novel includes testimony by Gen and Fenton’s colleagues and neighbors that remind readers how difficult it was even for well-intentioned straight allies to speak out against institutional bigotry. Lightening the grimness is the fact that Gen and Fenton are sympathetic characters; the setting also evokes the pleasures of academic life that attracted two such intelligent people to it despite its restrictions. Ultimately, this novel celebrates the bravery not only of the pre-Stonewall generation of LGBTQ people but also of the allies who were willing to risk their own careers and relationships to stand up for them.
February 1, 2021
Testimony was a lot of fun to read, especially after having read Last Night at the Telegraph Club, this taking place around the same time. Because of some of the similarities in theme, foils, and conflicts, I've had some trouble writing this review, but I think one of the greatest strengths of this book is the certitude of each one of its characters. Those who are queer, Know they are queer, and know what they need to do to navigate around a society that threatens their safety because of that. There is community, friendship, doubt and support, and those structure function because of the way queer people have found each other and helped each other, whether that be through action or silence. The other thing Testimony does well is not placing queer spaces or communities in a vacuum, insulated from all other relationships, giving the narrative a greater depth and scope than might have been managed by a lesser writer.
January 21, 2021
This story brought the early 1960’s to life for me. Thanks to this author, I could easily picture what life was like for queer professionals and people of color during the Civil Rights Movement. Plus, The House Un-American Activities Committee still had a heavy influence on the personal and professional lives of many Americans in the 1960’s. During that turbulent period, many LGBT people could easily lose their jobs and they could be arrested if their neighbors or colleagues reported their behavior to their employers or the police. In spite of those heartbreaking issues, I really enjoyed tagging along with Gen, Fenton and Ruby because they strived to broaden the minds of their students, they fought back against the blatant inequalities that existed at Baines College and they supported each other through the good times as well as the bad.
April 5, 2021
3.5 A heartbreaking story about what it what like to be a gay professional in the late fifties. Takes place in a small college town in Virginia when being gay was still against the law.
August 29, 2023
A wonderful read! The characters are well-drawn and distinct, and I was immediately drawn into the story of teachers and students in a small Southern women's college. Swept into a homophobic panic, the lesbian and gay teachers struggle to keep their jobs, receiving hurtful accusations from some as well as unexpected support from others. Well-written and engaging to the last page.
June 18, 2024
4 stars. Very hard hitting and heavy but so well written. A very good read. I didn’t absolutely love it like I thought I would but hat’s okay. It was intriguing and the characters felt real. I’d recommend it.
January 4, 2026
Loosely based on a true case of a witch hunt against a lesbian academic at UCLA in the early 1950s, Testimony shines a spotlight on an important piece of gay and lesbian history. It’s a heart-wrenching tragedy, solidly rendered. I would have preferred fewer points of view, as the constant shifting among characters came at the expense of depth and created a choppy feel. I would still recommend the book if you are interested in this historical moment, which seems all the more relevant today (sigh).
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
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