We Need To Talk About Kevin

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver. It is an epistolary novel, comprising the letters that Eva Khatchadourian writes to her husband Franklin in the aftermath of their son’s crime. The novel explores themes of nihilism, motherhood, the relationship between violence and depravity, and much more. The book won the Orange Prize for Literature in 2005 and was adapted into an acclaimed feature film starring Tilda Swindon and John C. Reilly.

Please note that We Need to Talk About Kevin contains subject matter, situations, and language pertaining to both real and fictional school shootings, child abuse, violence, and rape.

Plot Summary

Eva writes the letters between November 8, 2000, and April 8, 2001. The letters describe her early relationship with Franklin. Eva’s early letters recap their courtship, marriage, career trajectories, and their decision to have a child.

When Kevin is born, he rejects Eva, refusing her milk and gagging as if she revolts him. For her part, Eva is shocked to find she feels no emotional attachment to her new baby boy. Kevin remains cold but grows into an antagonistic toddler. He shrieks all day while Franklin is away, but is calm when his father returns, which causes Franklin to accuse Eva of exaggerating.