We need to talk about Kevin

When I picked up my copy of The Post-Birthday World, I also got the audio version of We need to talk about Kevin by the same author.  I have been listening to it when walking and am finding it quite thought provoking. It makes me think of the age old question of nature versus nature and whether personality is learned or ingrained.  Is Kevin the way he is because he did not properly bond with his mother?  Was his personality and desperation simply a part of him from when he was born?

Although the format of the book – letters from the teen’s mother written to her estranged husband – does not allow for you to get in the mind of any of the other characters, you are able to live through the events of her life as she saw them.  Definitely worth a read/listen. 

If you want to read a bit, click here for an excerpt.

The Post-Birthday World

So our newest book will be The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver:

In this eagerly awaited new novel, Lionel Shriver, the Orange Prize-winning author of the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin, delivers an imaginative and entertaining look at the implications, large and small, of whom we choose to love. Using a playful parallel-universe structure, The Post-Birthday World follows one woman’s future as it unfolds under the influence of two drastically different men.

Children’s book illustrator Irina McGovern enjoys a quiet and settled life in London with her partner, fellow American expatriate Lawrence Trainer, a smart, loyal, disciplined intellectual at a prestigious think tank. To their small circle of friends, their relationship is rock solid. Until the night Irina unaccountably finds herself dying to kiss another man: their old friend from South London, the stylish, extravagant, passionate top-ranking snooker player Ramsey Acton. The decision to give in to temptation will have consequences for her career, her relationships with family and friends, and perhaps most importantly the texture of her daily life.

Hinging on a single kiss, this enchanting work of fiction depicts Irina’s alternating futures with two men temperamentally worlds apart yet equally honorable. With which true love Irina is better off is neither obvious nor easy to determine, but Shriver’s exploration of the two destinies is memorable and gripping. Poignant and deeply honest, written with the subtlety and wit that are the hallmarks of Shriver’s work, The Post-Birthday World appeals to the what-if in us all.

Click here for a reading guide and here for Lionel Shriver’s biography

And if you would like to browse inside the book, give it a try here