A Mother's Reckoning - Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold

Written by the mother of one of the Columbine Shooter's, there has been great criticism of this book. Mostly because its focus isn't on the victims of this horrific tragedy, but the perpetrators. But what could this poor mother say about a single victim without some kind of backlash?

Many have felt that the author wrote this book to absolve herself of any guilt, but that's not how I saw this.

There is no justifying what happened on the 20th April 1999, when two young men walked into school wearing long trench coats and toting guns. The death of twelve individuals and injuries of twenty four others can in no way be minimized by this woman's story, nor is she making any attempt to do so. But it is all too easy to throw the blame at someone else, and not listen and gain a smidgen of understanding that could hopefully help us to prevent something like this happening again.

I can't fathom the police turning up at my door and telling me that any one of my children has done what these young men did. The guilt, the inner turmoil, the grief and despair. And added to that the fact that your child is dead too. But no one cares about the loss you're feeling, because you are also guilty by association. 

This book is a hard read considering it's content, but it is well written. It gives you a glimpse behind the curtain at how the parents are blamed while grieving. How they are vilified while given minutes to grab what they need from their home, and removed from their property, which is now a crime scene. 

It is my belief that if we pay no attention to stories like these, we can't hope to catch what these poor parents missed. And by failing to understand, we do the victims of this devastating tragedy a grave injustice.

Read and reviewed by L.M. Potter