Review: Dolores Claiborne

As Jessie Burlingame lies handcuffed to her bed in Gerald's Game (p. 487), she recalls how, on the clay 30 years ago that her dad molested her, she had a vision of a woman--a murderer?--at a well King explains that vision here: Dolores Claiborne is the woman, and her story of how she killed her husband, and the consequences, proves a seductively suspenseful, if quieter, complement to Jessie's shriek-lest of a tale. The garotte-tight Gerald's Game is one of King's most stylish novels, and the Maine author flexes more stylistic muscle here, having feisty Dolores tell her tale in a nonstop monologue, rich in Down East dialect, that steadily gathers force. Dolores, 65, is speaking to Andy Bissette, sheriff of the island offshore Maine where she's lived her life, most of it as housekeeper for Vera Donovan, a wealthy ""bitch."" We soon learn that Dolores has a confession to make--in her own sweet time (""I feel a draft in here, Andy. Might go away if you shutcha goddamn trap""). Amidst details--often crudely funny--of her power-plays with Vera, and of her early life, we learn how, years back, Dolores's rotten husband began molesting their teenaged daughter, then stole her college funds. Dolores's retribution--the killing--forms the story's centerpiece, and, taking place on the same day that Jessie's dad molested her, forges the psychic bond--neither elaborated on nor explained--between the two women. It's Dolores's final years with Vera, though, and the bitter manner of Vera's death, that have brought Dolores to the sheriff--and that ultimately transform this, like Gerald's Game, into a devastating tale of heroism in the face of life's suffering. Without the flash and twisted fun of Gerald's Game, this may not sell as well (despite a 1.5 million first printing); but Dolores is a brilliantly realized character, and her struggles will hook readers inexorably.

Review: Dolores Claiborne

When housekeeper Dolores Claiborne is questioned in the death of her wealthy employer, a longhidden dark secret from her past is revealed as is the strength of her own will to survive... Read full review

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Review: Dolores Claiborne

Dolores Claiborne, written in 1992 by the legendary Stephen King, is a novel simple in concept but brilliant in execution. Spinning a yarn about a women from Little Tall Island in Maine, this dark ... Read full review

Review: Dolores Claiborne

I was not sure about this book at first. While I am a fan of Stephen King's, I have only read his horror novels before. This was less a horror novel, and more a mystery. When I opened the book, I also ... Read full review

Review: Dolores Claiborne

SUMMARY: Extraordinarily vivid...an impressive tour de force, a sensitive character study that holds the reader rapt. PlayboyMore of a mystery than a horror novel, Dolores Claiborne contains only the ... Read full review

Review: Dolores Claiborne

I didn't actually read this one. I listened to the audio book read by Frances Sternahagen. As far as the quality of the audio book, it was one of the best I've ever listened to because Ms. Sternahagen ... Read full review

Review: Dolores Claiborne

This is my very favorite Stephen King book. And since I have everything he wrote before 1996 sitting in hardcover on my shelf, that's really saying something. I find Dolores Claiborne to be King's ... Read full review

Review: Dolores Claiborne

I'm one of those rare King fans who still hasn't read everything he's put out there. I'm getting close though; I think I have about 10 books left. But I planned ahead, as I didn't want all the ... Read full review

Review: Dolores Claiborne

The novel, Dolores Claiborne, sat on my shelf for many years before I finally not only reached for it, but opened it, and read it start to finish. Sometimes you have to be ready for a book, and I ... Read full review