Book of the Week – We Need to Talk About Kevin

Have you read this?  It’s one of the most challenging and disturbing novels of our time.  Is it nature or nurture that creates a monster?  And who is responsible if that monster is a child?

‘Eva never really wanted to be a mother; certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher who tried to befriend him. Now, two years later, it is time for her to come to terms with marriage, career, family, parenthood and Kevin’s horrific rampage in a series of startlingly direct correspondences with her absent husband, Franklyn. Uneasy with the sacrifices and social demotion of motherhood from the start, Eva fears that her alarming dislike for her own son may be responsible for driving him so nihilistically off the rails.’

Warning:  This isn’t in any sense a children’s book, and is probably best suited to older teens +.  It’s graphic and frightening – but don’t let that put you off!