Book Review: Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King

Having been suspected of being involved in the death of her rich employer, Dolores Claiborne tells the story of her life to the police, from the disintegration of her marriage and suspicious death of her husband to the relationship she had with her employer, Vera Donovan.

"Sometimes you have to be a high riding bitch to survive, sometimes, being a bitch is all a woman has to hang on to."

Wow, this book is pretty unique - it's in the form of a monologue given by Dolores herself detailing the events leading up to her husband's death a number of years previously, as well as the more recent death of her employer, Vera Donovan. There's no chapters, no breaks, nothing. Just a continuous narration from our protagonist. It blows me away how, not for one second, did I feel like I was reading King's writing - I felt like I was reading Dolores' confession. King's ability to perfectly encapsulate and get into the head of a middle-aged woman astounds me. She has such a strong, believable voice. Bravo, King, bravo.

Dolores made me laugh out loud (honestly, those stories about Vera's bowel movements), she made me tear up, and I was cheering her on every step of the way. She is a kick ass character, a strong female and one of King's best. And she perfectly demonstrates the strength of a mother's love, even though it may raise many questions about morality and how far we should go to protect those who we love. It took me a little longer to warm up to Vera, but I ended up loving her as well. It's just so awesome to read about two females who, even though they may have had some issues, had each other's backs. Dolores Claiborne may have given me a new favourite King character for the list, but it has also given me a new most-hated character too. Her damn husband, Joe. The way he treats Dolores and the things he says to her, as well as how he treated other characters (careful of spoilers) made me want to beat the crap outta him!! UGH. I HATE HIM!!

Even though this book has quite a few funny moments and hilarious quotes from Dolores, it does deal with some dark themes, such as domestic violence, alcoholism and sexual abuse. It's not a horror book either, although certain parts left me a little on edge, which I can't go into without spoilering! Although I liked the unique narration of this book, I personally was not a fan of the lack of chapters or section breaks, but I guess that's just a personal preference. I've had a few people on instagram say they prefer that as it actually helped them speed through the book. It just wasn't for me!

I almost wanted to find things I didn't like about this book as I've been on such a great run of awesome reads recently and sometimes I get self-conscious of giving so many books in a row a high rating - but WHATEVER. I loved it and that's it! I ain't gonna apologise for picking such great reads (or in this instance for Abbie picking a great read for me). 5 stars!

Johann

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