I picked up the 470-page paperback on a second-hand book stall, finishing it a week ago. I'd heard much praising talk about it on its first being published way back in 2003 and that had stuck with me - maybe helped a bit by a 2011 film (which I don't think I actually saw - or did I?) starring Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly. The book has won numerous awards ever since it came out.
I'd never heard of the American writer, this being her seventh novel - this one entirely in epistolary form, consisting of a divorced wife and mother (of the titular Kevin) writing to her separated husband trying to make sense of the happenings concerning their rude, rebellious son growing from babe to adolescence. I don't want to give anything away - and there is so much that could spoil it for would-be readers. I had to keep putting the book aside for several days, it being so overwhelmingly painful and real! But having started, I just had to finish it - quite a marvel being that I was never once even slightly tempted to sneak a quick glance at the final pages to find out what happened, and, my goodness, the word 'horror' barely scratches the surface!
So in no way can I say "You just have to read this!". In some ways I wish I hadn't. I'd be terribly interested to hear from anyone who already did - and were they affected by it as anything like I've been. My reluctance to go out and recommend it as a 'good' read is completely that I just don't want anyone else to be left with the equivalent mental scars which I bear - and will, perhaps continue to have for all my remaining time.
