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Lionel Shriver
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Genre
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Media
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Audio Book
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Publisher | Orion | ||
ISBN | 0752874764 | ||
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Audio Extract
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Reviewer
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Janice
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Synopsis
Kevin Khatchadourian killed several of his fellow high-school students, a cafeteria worker and a teacher, shortly before his sixteenth birthday. He is visited in prison by his mother, Eva, who narrates in a series of letters to her estranged husband, Franklin, the story of Kevin's upbringing. A successsful career woman, Eva is reluctant to forgo her independence and the life she shares with Franklin to become a mother. Once Kevin is born, she experiences extreme alienation and dislike of Kevin as he grows up to become a spiteful and cruel child. When Kevin commits his murderous act, Eva fears that her own shortcomings may have shaped what her son has become. But how much is she to blame?
Review
I listened to this 5 disc set in just two sessions. Eva is writing in letters the trials of parenthood which she went through with her son Kevin aged nearly 16. This is a boy who refused to talk, was very gifted and intelligent, yet he continuously upsets family and friends.
I presumed she was a widow bringing up her son. But no, this book is written because of Kevin's actions just before his sixteenth birthday. In her letter she seems to want to know where they as parents, went wrong.
Because, of her son, she will be shunned for the rest of her life as the mother of a boy who committed a terrible crime.
I was entranced by Lorleli as she read the tale in various voices. A special interest on disc five is the author being interviewed by Paul Blezard, and explains her reasoning for writing this book. I found her fascintating to listen to
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