From My Bookshelf....by Lynn Willoughby

Grassroots
(Page 13)


We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver

I hardly know where to start on a review of this book. It is well written, the characterization is strong but the story line is described by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as "a slow, magnetic descent into hell that is as fascinating as it is disturbing."

This is a family story written as a series of letters from the mother to the father about their son Kevin - who is at the centre of a school massacre. Eva's emails to Franklin detail their relationship pre and post Kevin, followed by the events in Kevin's life leading to "Thursday" at Kevin's school. Her letters also describe her bimonthly visits to Kevin in prison. She is Kevin's only visitor and we wonder why.

Franklin makes a huge effort to believe that his household is that of a typical American family. He seems blinded by Kevin's malice and dismisses Eva's early concerns about Kevin - intimating that Eva is exaggerating the problems or that they are really Eva's problems. At one point Franklin does ask Eva for a divorce and Kevin overhears this discussion.  He decides to commit his act of mass murder. If Kevin respects either of his parents at all, it is Eva, the strong-willed one, with whom he has been engaged in a battle for dominance since his birth. After all, defeating her will be much more satisfying than defying his more obvious father.

Kevin's sister Celia is conceived, mostly because Eva needs to bond with a member of her family and it is never going to be Kevin and she and Franklin have lost their unity. Celia is born when Kevin is eight and is different from her brother in every way. She relies on Eva to keep her safe, but is that realistic in this household?

The true theme of this novel is the importance of innate characteristics and personal experiences in determining character and behaviour. The Nature versus Nurture debate continues throughout this book, but leaves enough ambiguity to ensure that we will keep on questioning the theory. Was Kevin born evil or was Eva's ambivalence toward maternity and motherhood the trigger in his development? There are so many 'clues' about Kevin's malevolence, after the fact, that we wonder how this family functions on a day to day basis. The fleeing nannies, the cancelled play dates, the lack of friendships in the life of this silent, cynical, often down right evil child, makes for a harrowing read. There is some dark humour and the everyday minutiae gives us momentary relief. But we cringe and worry about Celia and wonder why Franklin gives Kevin a crossbow for a Christmas present.

Shriver "yanks the reader back and forth between blame and empathy, retribution and forgiveness. Never letting up the tension, Shriver ensures that, like Eva, the reader grapples with unhealed wounds." - Deborah Donovan

"This is not a light book, but it is a necessary one.  Her (Eva) inability to mother Kevin is perhaps an insightful look at those women who bore the real-life school killers and Shriver should be congratulated on her brave and difficult work." - Kaitlyn Kochany

This is an intense, psychological novel, but one with lots of research and true newspaper headlines about teenage mass murders included throughout the book.

Eva says "I was struck despite myself by what a sizable proportion of our species feeds off the depravity of a handful of reprobates...Think of it - how much government is the management of the wayward 1 percent?...prison building and warding is one of the biggest growth industries in the United States."  Chilling or what?? This is a must read and would be great for discussion as there is lots of meat and lots of differing opinions.
 The Post - Birthday World
 A Perfectly Good Family
 So Much for That
 The Sheltering Sky

Who Knew?
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles called bolts or quarrels. Crossbows played a significant role in the warfare of East Asia, Europe and the Mediterranean.
Bronze crossbow bolts dating as early as 5th century BC have been found in China.