We Need to Talk About Kevin

Novel, Thriller by Lionel Shriver

Blurb

Eva never really wanted to be a mother—and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday. Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood, and Kevin’s horrific rampage in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her estranged husband, Franklin. Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that her alarming dislike for her own son may be responsible for driving him so nihilistically off the rails.

First Published

2003

Member Reviews Write your own review

patriciafreitag

Patriciafreitag

This was by far the deepest book I ever read. I don't remember ever feeling so anxious, sad, angry and many other ways in different parts of a book. The characters are so complex and we can have a very close look into their thoughts, which is frightening, because they reveal that all of us have feelings and thoughts that are not pretty and that we do not how to deal with them. And it is amazing how Lionel Shriver managed to give pieces of information little by little, making me feel differently about each character in the course of the book.

0 Responses posted in May
Unathirty

Unathirty

Fantastic.

0 Responses posted in May
coderadio

Coderadio

Very disturbing and well written, although I disliked the first-person narrative. I understand that it was important/vital to the plot to unfold the way it does, but I hated being stuck inside that character's head.

0 Responses posted in January
krispa34

Krispa34

Heartbreaking, thought-provoking - both one of the best and worst books I've ever read for its examination of motherhood and family life.

0 Responses posted in January
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