This book would be a great antidote to those under the spell of 50 Shades of Grey. Bondage games may lose some of their attraction if you have this narrative in the back of your mind. Jessie’s husband Gerald handcuffed her to the bed in the pursuit of his sexual pleasure, then he did her the inconvenience of dying of a heart attack. This occurs in the remote Maine backwoods on a vacation, so there’s no help coming. What follows has some graphic survival horror, but the bulk of the novel is the deep introspection of a woman wondering how she got here, and how she can go forward. Jessie has some unresolved psychological trauma that combines with the stressful circumstances to create a whole cast of characters out of this claustrophobic setup.
Going in I was unsure how I would like all of that introspection, but King deals expertly in building suspense even through the sections where the physical world is quiet. A combination of shifting perspectives, inner dialogue, and relevant flashbacks built immense characterization of the players in the story and held my interest. He also deals much more sensitively than I expected with Jessie’s situation. A few of King’s novels depict women whose behavior is clearly based on male fantasies, but Jessie has much greater agency than that, and is a very strong character. Altogether, this book was riveting and well-told. I did have some difficulty understanding what the room looked like, which is unfortunate, considering the importance of the setting.
I did not know there was a new Netflix Original film when I started reading this book. It has really put me in a directorial frame of mind, so I hope to get a chance to watch it soon.
If you are bothered by purposeful, detailed mutilation, like with surgery, this may not be the best read.
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