Kevin Sucks

But luckily Lionel Shriver’s book, We Need To Talk About Kevin, doesn’t. Despite a very after school special–sounding title, this is a powerful book that really deserves to be read. However, please, please don’t read it if you’re pregnant or trying to start a family. I cannot say this enough: this is not the book for you.

We know that Kevin comes to no good end from very early on in the book; otherwise the novel follows a chronological trajectory, told through letters Eva, Kevin’s mother, writes to his father. We see Eva and Franklin’s early relationship, Eva’s passion for her business, the way they sidle up to parenthood with a little reluctance and a lot of uncertainty. We see Kevin’s childhood and maturation through Eva’s eyes and share her ambivalence, anger, and, ultimately, terror and sorrow.

Shriver depicts, with heartbreaking believability, the way a marriage can be worn down and how family comes to define the individual. She reminds us how much of life is luck and beyond our control. For the last 50 pages or so I was glued to my seat, unable to look away until everything — awful though it may be — was said and done.

The book isn’t always easy and isn’t for everyone (seriously, pregnant friends—don’t read it!), but, unlike Kevin, it is good.