Just Finished Reading (Again) Lisey's Story by Stephen King

I first read Stephen King's novel Lisey's Story in 2008, two years after it was first published. Considering it one of his greatest works, I returned and just finished rereading this tale of a woman's grief over her recently departed husband, a successful novelist, and her struggle against those trying to steal away his papers.  The story can be a bit difficult to read in that King jumps around frequently from one time period to another...usually in mid-sentence!  As the title intimates, it is Lisey's story, but it is also that of Scott, going back to his childhood and examining his family history of insanity as well as hitting upon different pivotal points in his marriage.  And of course there is the ongoing, horribly scary drama...as only Stephen King can write it...of a madman stalking Lisey for those papers.  In the backdrop is an imaginary place called "Boo'ya Moon"  to where, from childhood onward, Scott could retreat from the hostile real world, as well as draw out ideas for his stories...but how imaginary is it?  Lisey knows the answer, and her emotionally disturbed sister Amanda may as well...but I'll leave this mystery to you, the potential reader, to unravel at your own convenience...

Stephen King has long claimed that we all have a source within ourselves...like Scott's Boo'ya Moon...to which we can visit and replenish our imagination.  With each person it looks different, but King has pointed out in Lisey's Story that it also contains its own dangers, one of which is that it can be very tempting to remain there too long, making it difficult to return to the real world.  On the other hand, I think that while that may be true for a few, the problem with most of us is that we rarely get to know our own Boo'ya Moon...

More than anything, Lisey's Story is about a relationship of love, between Lisey and Scott Landon over the course of their lives together...and even beyond.  The level of honesty and intimacy between them makes this one of the most compelling love stories of our age.  But developing characters and making them seem so real has always, in my opinion, been Stephen King's greatest gift as a writer...

By the way, Lisey's Story is yet another one of those Stephen King novels set in the problematic small Maine town of Castle Rock...and, yes, my "favorite" King locale, Derry, is also referenced.  And it looks as if an eight-part TV miniseries based on the book is in the works...