We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver

With this book, the American author won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005. Shriver changed her name from Margaret Ann to Lionel as a teenager, as she believed men had it easier. This was also selected to be part of Richard & Judy’s Summer Reads for 2005, and was featured on the BBC’s Page Turners programme.

The book grabbed me from page one, I knew the synopsis from the back cover, and the book starts with a letter from mother, Eva, to estranged husband, Franklin, a year and eight months after the tragic events at their son Kevin’s High School where he murdered seven fellow students, a teacher and a cafeteria worker. After Eva bumps into the mother of one of the murdered students in the supermarket she feels compelled to start writing to Franklin letters talking of her current situation as well as recalling the past, going back as far as their decision to actually have a child. This early part of the book can be quite hard going, nothing seems to actually happen and Eva’s letters occasionally get a bit random and over-detailed. Once Kevin is born we see a bit more about the struggles she has with a son that she was unable (or perhaps unwilling) to bond with. Kevin does not seem to be a pleasant or contented child, and Eva struggles to relate to him although she tries her best. It seems that there is a battle of wills between her and a stubborn four year old, and often the four year old wins. Eva’s recollections are interspersed with stories of her visit to the correctional institute that Kevin is in, all the way up to the final, gripping chapters before ‘Thursday’ as she refers to the tragic day.

As Kevin grows up we see that he is an intelligent and cunning child, as well as a malicious one, often acting out in spite towards his mother, but being sweet as pie to his dad. Franklin did not seem to give Eva the support she felt she needed and always saw the good in Kevin, and made excuses for his behaviour. This itself seemed a bit extreme, and biased but we only hear the one account, and perhaps if we read Franklin’s account we would think Eva biased. I generally thought of Franklin as partly naive but also weak in his lack of support towards his wife and tendency to stick his head in the sand every time Kevin may have done something wrong. Eva certainly recognises Kevin as trouble but even she acknowledges she did not see the ultimate tragic events unfold, feeling that most of Kevin’s behaviour is directed at her or to annoy her and provoke a reaction.

Once the book has gotten going more it is an easier read, although Eva’s thoughts are inclined to ramble at times, it appears to have more relevance. There was one racial outburst that left me feeling uncomfortable. I had to remind myself that this was a work of fiction and that just by reading a novel, I was not condoning a fictional character’s thoughts. Eva seemed a very real person, although I could not always relate to her, I usually found her believable and felt increasing sympathy towards her as the book progressed. I found the character of Kevin harder to believe. I was not convinced that the child was as spiteful, from such a young age, as he was portrayed, he didn’t really seem realistic and at times bordered on a caricature of badly behaved child.

I don’t feel the book loses anything from the fact that you know the ending, and the actual nitty-gritty details of ‘Thursday’ and why those particular victims were chosen are not revealed until the end, and there is a certain amount of suspense as the story unfolds towards the close, and all loose ends are tied up.

Overall I would recommend this book, the subject matter is not always going to appeal, and you might struggle with some of the earlier parts as it seemed to drag in places, but the premise is certainly original (even if the actual events are all too real in some US schools).