Penitence is a beautifully written novel, tackling one of the darkest subjects imaginable: the murder of a teenage boy by his own younger sister.
It happens in the small town of Lodgepole, Colorado in 2016 and the murderer is thirteen-year-old Nora Sheehan, who calls the police herself to confess that she has just shot and killed her brother Nico. Before the incident, Nora had seemed depressed and withdrawn, which may or may not have been related to Nico, who was less than a year older, being diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. Huntington’s is a degenerative condition with no cure, so it’s possible that Nora may have thought she was helping her brother avoid a terrible fate – but is this true or is there another reason for what she did?
Martine Dumont, a seventy-two-year-old lawyer, is looking forward to her retirement when Nora’s parents, David and Angie Sheehan, ask her to take on one last case and defend their daughter. Martine accepts, but knows she is out of her depth and contacts her estranged son, Julian, whose speciality is criminal law. Julian has lived in New York for many years, but Angie was once his girlfriend, which makes the situation awkward. Although he agrees to return to Lodgepole and help with Nora’s case, being around Angie again brings back difficult memories for both of them.
When I first started to read, I was expecting this to be a crime novel, but that’s not really how I would describe it. The murder of Nico Sheehan is actually a relatively small part of the story; there’s never any doubt that Nora did it deliberately and it’s quite obvious why she did it, so there’s no mystery involved. We do get a lot of information on the laws surrounding the prosecution of child murderers, how they can sometimes be tried as adults rather than juveniles, and the sentences they can expect. We’re also given some insights into what life is like for Nora in the juvenile detention facility she is sent to while she’s awaiting trial.
The main focus of the novel, though, is on the topic of forgiveness and the various questions that arise from this. Why do we feel we have to assign blame when something tragic happens? How can we move on from this and find forgiveness for ourselves and others? How much penitence is enough? These things are explored not just through the story of Nico’s murder – in fact, I felt that relatively little time was spent on showing how David and Angie truly felt about one of their children killing the other – but also on the relationship between Julian and Angie and how it was affected by another tragedy decades earlier. This second storyline plays out in another timeline set in the 1990s/early 2000s and alternates with the Nora/Nico thread. However, I thought too many pages were devoted to this backstory and it made the whole book feel longer and slower than it really needed to be.
I did love the portrayal of Lodgepole, a small Colorado ski resort, and the way life there differed from Julian’s (and for a while, Angie’s) life in New York. An interesting setting, then, and an interesting subject – if only it had been more tightly plotted, it would have been an excellent book. I did like it, though, and found it quite thought-provoking. It’s Kristin Koval’s debut novel and I’ll be happy to read more.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster UK for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
She Reads Novels 
This sounds really interesting.
Yes, it’s fascinating and left me with a lot to think about.
This sounds absolutely fascinating! I’ll have to add it to my TBR. I love crime books that explore the realistic elements of the justice system.
With two of the main characters being lawyers, we get a lot of insights into the justice system, particularly how it relates to young people accused of crimes. It’s a fascinating book!
I’m studying law atm, so that’s right up my alley! I loved the exploration of children’s rights in McEwan’s The Children Act too.
Id have overlooked this one based on its cover but the premise sounds fascinating. Its actually kind of disappointing to hear that so little of the story revolves around the murder though. It definitely sounds like it has the potential for devastation on various levels. I think I’ll put it on my secondary TBR of books I want to remember but arent in too much of a rush to pick up. If it focused on the primary storyline moreso than the past one I’m sure it would be going on the main one though.
The murder storyline was really fascinating, but I felt that the book lost its way a bit when it started focusing more on the backgrounds of the parents. I think it’s definitely worth reading, but I agree that it’s probably one for the secondary TBR than the main one!
I thought this sounded good from the beginning but being more to do with forgiveness than the killing just makes it sound even better, I’ll keep an eye out for this
I was expecting a crime novel, but it turned out to be a lot more than that. It’s definitely worth looking out for!
What a pity the second storyline was too protracted. It’s something you’d hope an experienced editor would pick up particularly with a debut novelist. However overall the book sounds great.
I could understand why it was necessary to give us the backstories of the main characters, but the present day storyline was much more interesting and should have been the main focus of the book.
I don’t think we have found a good way to deal with young people committing crimes. Their brains aren’t fully developed. In fact, a young man’s brain isn’t fully developed until near 30. Putting them away somewhere where they’re almost guaranteed to become criminals isn’t a solution, and certainly even more harsher punishments aren’t appropriate.
Yes, that’s the argument Nora’s attorney uses in the book. She’s only 13 and the prosecution want her on trial as an adult.
What a sad premise. I can see how this would be a thought-provoking book with Nora and what she did and why and at such a young age.
Yes, very sad, especially as Nora was only thirteen.