The book's format, of letters from Eva to Franklin, was highly appreciated by one reader another found it off-putting to start with but later thought it compelling and two others found the letters tedious, one too much so to persist with the book. But these reasons on their own did not seem enough to produce the sociopath who Kevin evidently was. Franklin was an 'over indulgent father', who 'had the wool pulled over his eyes'. However, she later had Cecilia and proved (at least to herself) that she could love and raise a normal child. Eva was a 'cold and detached mother', whose reasons for having a baby in the first place were ambivalent.
The main debate was whether Kevin's nature and actions stemmed from 'nature' or from 'nurture' – was he 'born evil', or did his problems result from his upbringing? Several readers were unable to decide which others came down on the side of Nature no one entirely blamed his parents.
Those who did, mostly commented on how shocking and also thought-provoking it was. Obviously this was a very disturbing book, so much so that not everyone in the group felt able to read/finish it, very understandably.
St Just Monday Morning Reading Group 30h November 2020.
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