Kevin

[bonnieslilsister]

I might be a bit out of date but I have just finished we need to talk about kevin and loved it. What did you think and was it the Mum's fault or was Kevin 'evil'?

Eva was clearly struggling and the husband was useless.

But from the description of Kevin's early life, we are left to wonder whether those are the feelings of a woman who has a major case of PND, or of a woman without PND but who is really struggling with motherhood, or - given that this is FICTION - with a woman who is parenting an extremely difficult child.

Yes, I agree that most mothers in RL don't think their small children are evil, but this is fiction. Most women who have affairs don't end up like Madame Bovary either!

On the other hand, it can be a very extreme version of ambivalent feelings that some women have (and not just women with PND) towards their first children.

I agree, the husband was lame and pathetic.
I felt sorry for Eva, though.

Mary I think the whole point of the book was the EVe was telling her side of the story only and that we knew she was an unreliable narrator.

Every thing Eve told us may have been an outright lie or at least given her own spin.

That's the joy of the boo. We, the reader, really have no real idea what is truth and what is not.

I never read any other book by Shriver, I couldn't summon up much enthusiasm for the plots of her other books.
Therefore, I am not sure if she is a good writer or not. I think Kevin is a very interesting book, which can be read in a few days.

I have noticed that it doesn't get many good reviews on MN, and that is mostly because Eva is perceived as an awful, egoistic mother who is up her self. I don't think she was, she had very realistic ambivalent feelings towards motherhood, suburban living etc.