We Need to Talk About Kevin

We Need to Talk About Kevin is Lionel Shriver's seventh novel and winner of the 2005 Orange Prize for Fiction. We Need to Talk About Kevin was made into a film in 2011.

From the book cover:
Eva never 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 startling correspondences with her estranged husband, Franklyn. 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 annilistically off the rails.

My Review:
Eva Katchadourian is a strong, plucky woman who loves her husband very much and adores her daughter beyond limits. But she just can't seem to find a way to love her son, Kevin. Or so she believes. I believe otherwise. Eva doesn't like Kevin, but I do believe she loves him despite his unlovable nature and the many ways he has found to torment her and anyone around him who has a passion in their life.

Eva narrates the story through a series of letter to her husband, Franklyn. The reader doesn't find out where Franklyn is or why he's left Eva and taken their daughter, Celia, with him until the last few pages of the novel.

In her letters to Franklyn, Eva examines their relationship before Kevin, examines her pregnancy and every aspect of Kevin's upbringing until the day he commits the mass murders. Even after the murders, Eva continues to visit Kevin in juvenile jail and try to understand him. Throughout the novel, there is an subtle argument going on as to whether behaviour is innate or nurtured. Some of the more shocking passages led to my husband and I have this discussion. He believes behaviour is nurtured, while I believe it's 80% innate and 20% nurtured. After all, Kevin does show some signs of being influenced by his mother - it's all about how those common characteristics are channeled.

I highly recommended this novel.

5/5