A Review
"Noah being charged as a sex offender sucker punched our entire suburban community. Child molesters were adults - dirty old men who lured children into their cars with promises of candy and treats. They weren't A-honor roll students who ran varsity track and went to mass every Sunday."
Thus begins the book, giving reader a fair idea as to its subject matter. TRIGGER WARNING for pedophilia, sexual assault, rape, child molestation and suicide.
This is a dark and sad book, as the story picks up from Noah returning home after his treatment, following his arrest and sentencing to eighteen months in a juvenile sexual rehabilitation center. But the book, told from his mother, Adrianne's, point of view, is just as much her story as Noah’s. Centered around their troubled, though loving relationship, it delves deep into the question of unconditional love of a parent for their child, and themes of regret and punishment, and whether that is always enough for forgiveness.
Though I do not share Adrianne’s sympathy, Saving Noah is undoubtedly an impactful and important book. However, one too many cringe inducing moments and often overbearing support shown by the mother put me off a bit. Probably it was a conscious choice to present a more overt perspective for the sake of the plot, but often Adrianne’s defense of Noah came off as too blasé-
"Noah, you did something awful. You know that, I know that, and your dad knows it too. But, you took responsibility. You’ve made things right, and eventually your dad is going to have to accept that."
"He made a mistake, but he said he’s sorry. Cant everyone just forgive him?"
"…but their lives weren’t going to be ruined forever…He was more of a victim than those girls, but society would never see it that way."
To be fair though, she is called out on her behavior.
"You took away your love the minute he didn’t fit into a box you’d put him in. Didn’t fit into a box? Christ, you act like he failed a test at school. He’s a fuckin’ child molester."
"You don’t want to hear it. You act like you do, but you don’t. You don’t want to talk about it for real. You talk about what he did like he robbed some bank and went off to treatment to learn how not to steal again. You’re in la-la land about it. Always have been."
What I really appreciated about this book though, was that it did not shy away from diving all the way in. The conflict could have been easier by either establishing successful treatment of Noah or lack of regret on his part; instead Berry presents a true dilemma in portraying him as perfect candidate for rehabilitation. So the book can ask with brutal honesty if sex offenders or child molesters should ever be forgiven, if they deserve forgiveness or rehabilitation, with no asterisk attached, no terms and conditions applied, no room for contextual subjectivity. And while my opinion remains firms (some lines are just absolute and not meant to be crossed) Berry does present a convincing arguments.
"Being a pedophile doesn’t mean they’re sexual predators. Sometimes they never touch a child. It doesn’t mean he’s evil. Nobody has control over who they’re attracted to. He can’t control who he’s attracted to any more than you or I can control our attractions."
I have sympathy for Noah’s struggle with pedophilia but not for his actions. He can’t control his attractions but he can control his actions, if not he should be taught to. However this remains a personal opinion on the topic and has nothing to do with the quality or content of the book.
The writing though slightly awkward in its flow towards the beginning, turns out to be suitable once the plot takes off. The simplicity of the sentences setting off the complexity of the situation portrayed, sucks the reader in. (view spoiler)
Final verdict- 3.5 stars rounded to 4
Do give it a read, it provides much to think about things you haven’t contemplated before. Not only in terms of mental health or importance of layers of criminal intent, but also regarding parenting and the dilemma it presents between love and what is right.