Lisey's Story

Title: Lisey's Story

Author: Stephen King

Published in: 2006

Date read: 21st August 2020

Score: 5/5

Genre: Supernatural, Horror, Thriller, Psychological

Plot: (Warning, may contain spoilers):
"Lisey's Story" by Stephen King, published in 2006, is a deeply personal and often unsettling novel that blends elements of romance, grief, psychological drama, and supernatural horror. King himself has stated it's one of his favourite and most personal works, largely inspired by his own wife, Tabitha, and his thoughts on what her life would be like after his death.

The story centres on Lisey Landon, the widow of Scott Landon, a celebrated and award-winning novelist who died two years prior to the novel's present-day events. Lisey is still deep in the throes of grief, struggling to sort through Scott's extensive papers and possessions, which are being eagerly sought by academics and publishers hoping to unearth unpublished manuscripts.

As Lisey begins the arduous process of clearing out Scott's study, she is forced to confront not only her profound sorrow but also the many secrets of their twenty-five-year marriage. Scott, despite his public persona, was a complex and often troubled man, haunted by a dark and traumatic past.

The catalyst for the main plot is a strange and cryptic "bool hunt" that Scott meticulously prepared for Lisey before his death. This scavenger hunt, revealed through a series of clues and triggered by an alarming mental breakdown of Lisey's sister Amanda, propels Lisey on a journey that forces her to revisit their shared history, including forgotten and suppressed memories.

Through flashbacks and Lisey's present-day discoveries, the novel gradually unveils the terrifying truth about Scott's past:

Boo'ya Moon: This is a fantastical, often beautiful but equally dangerous, parallel world that Scott could access. It was a place of healing and inspiration for his writing, but also home to a terrifying entity known as the Long Boy, a creature that embodies the madness that plagued Scott's family.

Scott's Family History: Lisey learns the full, horrific truth about Scott's childhood, including his father's violent madness and his brother Paul's tragic fate, both connected to the "bad-gunky" (a family affliction of homicidal urges) and the reality of Boo'ya Moon. Scott himself had to make unimaginable choices to survive his family's curse.

As Lisey embarks on the "bool hunt," she also faces a very real and present danger in her own world. She is relentlessly stalked and terrorized by Jim Dooley (also known as Zack McCool), an increasingly deranged and violent fan of Scott's work who believes he is entitled to Scott's unpublished manuscripts. Dooley's obsession escalates into extreme violence, forcing Lisey to fight for her life.

The novel interweaves these threads: Lisey's grief, her journey through the "bool hunt," the chilling revelations about Scott's past and Boo'ya Moon, and her desperate struggle against Dooley. Lisey's love for Scott, their shared private language, and the profound intimacy of their marriage form the emotional core of the story, even as it delves into the darkest aspects of the human psyche and supernatural horror.

The climax sees Lisey using her own burgeoning connection to Boo'ya Moon (which Scott had secretly fostered) to deal with the threat of Jim Dooley and bring peace to her sister. The final "prize" of the bool hunt is a letter from Scott, "Lisey's Story," which provides the final pieces of his fragmented past and helps Lisey achieve a profound sense of closure and understanding.

"Lisey's Story" is a complex, emotionally resonant, and often disturbing exploration of love's enduring power, the wellsprings of creativity, the nature of madness, and the secrets that bind people together, even across the veil of death.

Comments:
Brilliant story, thoroughly loved it. I did start the TV adaptation but never got past the first episode and I am not sure why.

Books that we've read by Stephen King (68):
Carrie (1974), 'Salem's Lot (1975), The Shining (The Shining, #1) (1977), The Stand (1978), Night Shift (1978), The Dead Zone (1979), Firestarter (1980), Cujo (1981), The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1) (1982), Different Seasons (1982), Christine (1983), Cycle of the Werewolf (1983), Pet Sematary (1983), The Talisman (The Talisman, #1) (1984), Skeleton Crew (1985), It (1986), The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2) (1987), The Eyes of the Dragon (1987), The Tommyknockers (1987), Misery (1987), The Dark Half (1989), Four Past Midnight (1990), The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, #3) (1991), Needful Things (1991), Dolores Claiborne (1992), Gerald's Game (1992), Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993), Insomnia (1994), Rose Madder (1995), The Green Mile (1996), Desperation (1996), Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, #4) (1997), Bag of Bones (1998), The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999), Hearts in Atlantis (1999), On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000), Black House (The Talisman, #2) (2001), Dreamcatcher (2001), Everything's Eventual (2002), From a Buick 8 (2002), Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, #5) (2003), Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, #6) (2004), The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower, #7) (2004), The Colorado Kid (2005), Cell (2006), Lisey's Story (2006), Duma Key (2008), Just After Sunset (2008), Under the Dome (2009), 11/22/63 (2011), Full Dark, No Stars (2011), The Wind Through the Keyhole (The Dark Tower, #4.5) (2012), Dr. Sleep (The Shining, #2) (2013), Joyland (2013), Mr. Mercedes (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1) (2014), Revival (2014), The Bazaar of Bad Dreams (2015), Finders Keepers (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #2) (2015), End of Watch (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #3) (2016), Elevation (2018), The Outsider (2018), The Institute (2019), If It Bleeds (2020), Billy Summers (2021), Later (2021), Fairy Tale (2022), Holly (2023), You Like It Darker (2024)