Product Description

WINNER OF THE ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION 2005 Two years ago, Eva Khatchadourian?s son, Kevin, murdered seven of his fellow high-school students, a cafeteria worker, and a popular algebra teacher. Because he was only fifteen at the time of the killings, he received a lenient sentence and is now in a prison for young offenders in upstate New York. Telling the story of Kevin's upbringing, Eva addresses herself to her estranged husband through a series of letters. Fearing that her own shortcomings may have shaped what her son has become, she confesses to a deep, long-standing ambivalence about both motherhood in general and Kevin in particular. How much is her fault? Lionel Shriver tells a compelling, absorbing, and resonant story while framing these horrifying tableaux of teenage carnage as metaphors for the larger tragedy - the tragedy of a country where everything works, nobody starves, and anything can be bought but a sense of purpose.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #662 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 500 pages

Review
"'An awesomely smart, stylish and pitiless achievement' Independent 'Taps into unspoken fears of maternal ambivalence that are not easily acknowledged and do not fit neatly into glossy magazine notions of female empowerment' Guardian Unlimited 'Harrowing, tense and thought-provoking, this is a vocal challenge to every accepted parenting manual you've ever read' Daily Mail 'An elegant psychological and philosophical investigation of culpability with a brilliant denouement' Observer 'As a mother of two, reading Lionel Shriver's novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin was a comfort and a revelation' Jenni Murray, BBC Women's Hour"

The Sunday Times (Culture), May 7, 2006
‘Urgent, unblinking and articulate fiction’

The Guardian, 6th May, 2006
‘Cleverly balances the grand guignol and the mundane’

Customer Reviews

Disturbingly honest
Lionel Shriver writes with an emotional honesty that I've never seen in anyone else. No emotion is too shameful, too secret, that she won't explore it. In this case, a woman's antipathy and distrust of motherhood, and, by extension, of her own child. The resulting book is dark, compelling and disturbing. A fantastic read.

Terrifying
An absolutely terrifying book. The twists in the story rarely manage to surprise but they do keep it interesting and the narrative remains believable and human at all times. I think everyone should read this to understand a little more about how hard parenting can be and how huge an effect the tiniest decisions can have.

Dissapointing!
This book promised to be gritty, contraversial, deeply telling and a page turner - unfortunately it was none of those things. I was bored by it and I really disliked Kevins Mum and her bitter, warped way of viewing life. A slow, dull, miserable read - I think this book could of been so much better, what a let down!