Lyn's Reviews > Lisey's Story

Reading this makes me think of all the literary critics Stephen King has had to put up with over the years. If a reader does not like his writing, that’s fine, “to each his own” as the saying goes. I’ve been on the outside looking in and in the minority opinion plenty of times, but I can usually see how someone could like a work, or even more frequently, respect the hard work that went in to creating a published book.

Some of Stephen King’s critics have been nasty, defaming not only his writing ability but his intelligence. I won’t state names and I won’t repeat the rubbish, but it is frequently pathetic. Like a spoiled kid crying sour grapes because he’s jealous. Easy for a literature type or academic to play the high castle card, ridiculing King and his success for appealing to the masses, for selling out, for playing upon the lowest common denominator.

This was exceptionally well written.

King’s prose is clear and imaginative, his style is progressive and resonant with emotion. This is a romance, but a gothic, melancholy novel, full of loss and grief and longing. There is magic realism that touches on fantasy of the Bradbury kind, close to the earth and yet fleeting and peripheral.

Apparently, when King was hit by a car and almost died, in the late 90s, he returned home during his convalescence to see his books and personal items packed up in boxes, having been rearranged by his wife Tabitha. This made him think of what his office would look like after he was dead, with Tabby given the unenviable task of going through her famous husband’s papers.

Lisey Landon was the surviving wife of famous novelist Scott Landon. As the story begins, he has been dead some two years or so. Much of the narrative is internal monologue and remembrances of Lisey’s happier times with her husband. But like all marriages, they had good and bad times and like many creative people, her late husband was a complicated man and with some dark secrets with which to contend. He was haunted by elements of his past and his family was a torturous and dysfunctional type, the kind of childhood that was survived rather than treasured and enjoyed.

When Lisey is confronted with an insane man who wants Scott’s old manuscripts and notes, she is forced to endure a present nightmare while also compelled to relive some of her darker times with Scott.

Psychologically terrifying in a domestic setting, King has demonstrated his great range as a writer. This is unlike any other book of his I have read and interestingly, King has stated this is his favorite. It is noteworthy that the book is dedicated to Tabby and is memorable that the narrative is filled with terms of endearment and with love language between the two. Every couple has their own ways of communicating, some in code and some without saying anything at all. Whether partially autobiographical or not, King has provided an unguarded glimpse into the life and love of two people who have shared and loved and then gone on ahead apart, divided by that singular loneliness that will come for each of us.

Romantic and at times heartbreaking, this is still Stephen King and fans will find his horrific magic present and engaging. Though not one of my favorites, I can see where someone would love this book and I can certainly respect his great talent.