Eva never really wanted to be a mother - and certainly not the mother of the unlovable boy who murdered seven of his fellow high school students, a cafeteria worker, and a much-adored teacher who tried to befriend him, all two days before his sixteenth birthday. 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 estranged husband, Franklin. 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.
This book was recommended to me by a good friend of mine who provided me with a booklist of her most interesting reads. At the top of the list just happened to be a book I found on one of the display tables at Chapters for decent price – so I picked it up.
This book is the story of a mother’s perspective of having a son who is a mass murderer. The timeline chronicles life as the mother sees it and her memoirs of the events leading up to the incident when the son (Kevin) goes on his killing spree.
This book is very intense and heavy hearted, and full of language not typical of your everyday read. I found the book challenging to read at times as it’s content is quite distressing to read. As a parent and as a person who doesn’t normally read this type of book I was intrigued to find my way through a story which the ending was already predicted.
Keep a dictionary near by if you are not a language guru and a good cup of coffee near by because once you delve into the book, you will be in for just “one more page” before moving on to your next task.
I would give this book a 4 out of 5 star rating.