Forgive Me Not

By: Jamie Steinberg

Fifteen-year-old Violetta Chen-Samuels has messed up. BIG TIME. After a night of drinking with her boyfriend, she got behind the wheel of a car with her little sister Vivian in the passenger seat. Unfortunately, there is a crash and Vivian does not survive. While awaiting her punishment, Violetta is sent to a juvenile detention center where she sits with her actions, meets with her Counselor Susan and interacts with her fellow “offenders.” Her fate awaits – will she be forgiven by those she has affected, made to undertake Trials to teach her about the mistakes she’s made, or will she be sent to prison? Jennifer Baker’s story Forgive Me Not explores what the world would be like if the victims of crimes determined your fate.

Violetta is devastated, but so is her family. Her mother, father and brother Vincent are left to determine what her punishment will be. Vincent has always felt the weight of his family on his shoulders – struggling so much to be “the golden boy” that he’s even taken drugs to alleviate that pressure. Now clean, he struggles with his sobriety and the loss of two of his sisters – one gone for good and one sent away.

Meanwhile, Violetta is left with the heaviness of her actions. She is not yet ready to reach out to her family, who have officially decided she will undertake “Trials.” In this world the government has done away with judicial decisions and victims are able to assign offenders the ability to undertake tasks that are designed to teach lessons based on their actions. Those who were online bullies may be assigned an “Accountability Trial.” Did you commit a crime with a weapon? Maybe you’ll have an “Endurance Trial” where you’re sent to a factory to make bullets. None of these trials are easy as they are meant for the offender to come to terms with what they have done. For Violetta, her family has assigned her two trials – with the option for a third. Sure, Violetta wants to go home, but what she wants more than anything is to be reunited with her family and to find forgiveness (from them and from herself).

Baker’s book is thought-provoking and deeply moving. My one bone of contention is that those who have committed actions in self-defense are also housed at the juvenile facility and subject to forgiveness, trials or prison. Why is there no special consideration given to actions that occur under duress? Certainly, they are not necessarily in need of forgiveness or punishment – especially not if determined by the “wronged” party.

Forgive Me Not is a tale of self-reflection. Can you find forgiveness – either within yourself or from those you have wronged? Regret carries a lot of weight, but with the understanding of our actions, some processing of your traumas and even a dash of love maybe we can truly find absolution.