We Need To Talk About Kevin Review by Lionel Shriver

I have to admit I was remiss about reading this book.  The topic is less than appealing.  Reading the history about a boy, who murders eight people (6 students, a cafeteria worker, and a teacher), and his mother.  Since Kevin's birth his mother, Eva, has struggled to love him.  He seemed a strange and increasingly vicious child.  The story is told from the view point of Eva two years after Kevin's horrific crime.  His mother is lost in a world that is devoid of career, husband or friends.  She is only left with her son, whom she visits faithfully even though their relationship has always been strained.

The book is a haunting read and I found it difficult to put it down. It was one other those rare books that stayed with you when you weren't reading it and after the last page was turned I yearned for more.  I highly recommend this novel.  Though it is an uncomfortable read at times, not only due to Kevin's behaviour, but Eva's frank and sometimes complete distain for her own child. The relationship between mother and son is strange and complicated and their shared history is full of odd incidences, frustration and earth shattering sadness.