First published 2011
Eva Khatchadourian sits down to write another letter to her husband, who has left her since the tragedy. Two years have passed since their son Kevin walked into his high school and killed seven students, a cafeteria worker, and a teacher. In these letters, Eva traces the path that led to that terrible day. She recalls Kevin as a difficult child from birth, resistant to her affection and seemingly born with a cold intelligence that unnerved her. Eva examines her own feelings about becoming a mother, admitting she never felt the instant love other women described. She questions whether her ambivalence toward Kevin shaped him into what he became. Each memory she shares reveals another moment when things might have gone differently. Eva searches through years of interactions, looking for the point when her son's darkness first showed itself, or whether that darkness was always there waiting. The letters become her attempt to understand how much responsibility she bears for the violence Kevin unleashed.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, psychological-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
468 pages · Paperback · Text Publishing
Content warnings: child-death, mental-illness, violence