Tampa Book Buzz

online book club review:lisey’s story by stephen king

Throughout Lisa (Lisey) Landon’s life, she was known merely as the wife of acclaimed author Scott Landon.  She accompanied him on his book tours, carried the gifts thrust upon him by well-wishers, and once found herself referred to as “gal pal” in a newspaper photo caption.  Stephen King’s Lisey’s Story is about the circumstances of Lisey’s life two years after her husband’s death, but she’s still only a secondary character.  Scott’s history is what’s important; his magical mysterious past holds the key to everything.

I’m torn.  I found Lisey’s struggle to move forward in her new life as a widow interesting and moving, but I’m tired of reading about troubled writers who live in Maine.  I enjoyed King’s use of flashbacks to reveal important parts of Scott’s dark past (piece by tantalizing piece), but felt like there was more to the backstory that could have been told.  King’s characters are fascinating, flawed and real, but the ominous evils in the story — both supernatural and human — seemed tame and somewhat familiar. 

What did you think?

Lisey’s Story by Stephen King is the TBB Online Book Club pick for this month.  The Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club is housed at Target’s Bookmarked website.  Each month we pick a book to read and discuss on the Bookmarked site.  During the month, I’ll post tidbits about the author and/or the book here.  At the end of the month, I’ll tell you what I thought of the book and hopefully you’ll do the same.  Email me at tampafilmfan(at)aol.com for more info or to join.  (ONLINE BOOK CLUB HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED)