Eva struggles to come to terms with the fact that her son, Kevin, is in prison for murder.
What I think
I've often heard people talk about this book as the best book they've ever read. I took a little time to get into it and had I not been reading it for my book club, I might not have persevered. I'm pleased I did though as the book got better and better.
Written as a series of letters from Eva to Franklin, her husband and the father of Kevin, this is an unusual book and stylistically it's an accomplishment. What is also very clever is that essentially you know what has happened from the start, but you continue to read to find out how it happened. I was gasp-out-loud shocked a couple of times by twists in the plot, and that's always extremely satisfying.
The underlying theme of this controversial novel is nature vs. nurture; a debate I always find extremely interesting. After a lengthy debate at book club, we were still undecided on why Kevin did what he did.
About the Author
Lionel Shriver (born Margaret Ann, but changed her name at the age of 15 to a male name which she felt better suited her personality) is an American journalist and novelist. We Need to Talk About Kevin was her eighth novel and it won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005.
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