Rehabilitation is no easy experience and Edgar is often the victim of bouts of frustration bordering on rage when he cannot make his body work properly. This paperback edition includes 'The Cat from Hell', a bonus story from Just After Sunset.Edgar Freemantle’s world is flipped upside down thanks to a terrible construction accident that leaves him without a right arm, prone to memory issues, and struggling with his words and vocabulary. It's not difficult to think that, in describing the pain that Freemantle had with his injuries, King was tapping into a familiar well of his own. I do wish the character of Elizabeth Eastlake figured more into the story, but I was quite happy with what King gave me to read. The characters of Freemantle and Wireman were vividly portrayed and likable, and I really enjoyed their camaraderie. Parts of it are still washing through my mind like the tides on Duma Key. I was sucked into this story rapidly and didn't really come up for air until it was finished. It looked both thoughtful and grim, but I never saw a one on the ground that didn't look like a Puritan elder considering which witch to burn next. When there's a writer who's such a comfortable fit for your private interior monologues, it's impossible to stay away.Ī heron makes several appearances in Duma Key, and King captures perfectly the thought I've always had about these birds:īeyond the tangle, on a blue-tiled walk that presumably connected with the main courtyard, stalked a sharp-eyed heron. I always feel as though King is channeling that voice inside my head that says everything I'm thinking, whether or not I verbalize it.

The major thing I've always enjoyed about King's writing is his voice. Although there was a period of years when I didn't read any of his books because I got the feeling they were cranked out on a conveyor belt, I've now gotten back in the habit. One of my all-time favorite reading tales revolves around Salem's Lot. I've been a fan of Stephen King since Carrie and Salem's Lot were published. You see.Edgar's creations are not just paintings but portals for the ghosts of Elizabeth's past to walk through. For such a beautiful place, Duma Key is strangely undeveloped, but it's the perfect place for Edgar to heal, and to make friends with his neighbors: Elizabeth Eastlake, the old lady who owns Duma Key, and her caregiver, Wireman.Īs Edgar heals, he begins to paint-feverishly, compulsively-and the talent his painting shows is as much a weapon as it is a wonder. He decides on Salmon Point, a big pink house right on the beach on Duma Key, Florida.

With his mind sending him into rages, Edgar decides to leave Minnesota for a year and recuperate elsewhere. Edgar Freemantle was a wealthy Minnesota builder until a construction site accident severed his right arm, broke his right leg and hip, scrambled his mind and destroyed his marriage.

Stephen king duma key review