Dolores Claiborne: A Novel

This might be the best novel by King that I've read so far, as far as pacing goes. It's straight to the point and doesn't lag which makes for fast reading. I finished it in two days, a first for a King book. I had a hard time putting it down. This was an interesting concept which I felt worked; I never read anything like it before. It's like reading a transcript. It has a realistic feel to it, and for once, the dialogue wasn't cringe worthy at all, another first for King's work. I've read all three of King's "female books" (Rose Madder, Gerald's Game) and while they're all good, this is probably the strongest. Dolores is likable and quite funny. There were many laugh out loud moments in this book and it has its share of suspense too.

I recommend it to anyone who likes King and/or enjoys a good mystery.

"Dolores Claiborne" reads like one big chapter - well it is (there are no chapters or breaks in the book). Dolores is a 65yr old woman, on trial for murdering her employer Vera Donovan of 40 or so years. Dolores is a woman who holds nothing back. She spills her whole life story, from when she first fell in love in her husband, Joe St George to the fateful day (yesterday) when Vera was found at the bottom of the stairs. We also find out what happened on the day of the total eclipse of the sun almost forty years ago, when her husband Joe dissappeared. Its a brilliant read, and total engrosses the reader. The more the story unfolds the more you love Dolores and even Vera, and despise Joe. Joe is a mean man, he bashes his wife, and makes moves on his 14 (i think) year old daughter, Selena. He also thinks his oldest son, Joe Jnr is a wuss for reading and has little time for him. The youngest, Pete idolises Joe, and Dolores fears he may grow up to be like Joe. Dolores tells all - her love/hate relationship with Vera, hate/hate relationship with Vera and her relationships with her children and the rest of Little Tall Island. I guess the only dissappointing thing is there are really no surprises in the book (maybe one at the end) but its still a great read, purely for the great insight into the character that is Dolores Clairborne. And if you don't like the book, as Dolores would say "frig ya!"

4.5 stars but that's not really an option.

King does well with another story that's about human drama and not Monster X. In this case, a tale unfolds about abuse in the house and its ultimate consequences.

Moreover, the entire book is told in a very unique way. It has no structure whatsoever. No chapters, no breaks. It is just Dolores Claiborne telling her story in one go. Occasionally she responds to questions from the listeners, but even those questions aren't included.

It's a 400-page monologue, but it never really gets boring. King knows the character Dolores inside and out before he begins writing, and it shows.

The movie was okay but the book is very good.

Stephen King, known for his horror stories, has built a bibliography much richer and more diverse than many realize. In "Dolores Claiborne," he implements his skills at building atmosphere and mood, but never dips into that fear-inducing storytelling for which he is famed. He leaves us instead with a deep character study set against the backdrop of an island in Maine.

Dolores tells her story first-person, and the narrative runs the length of the book without a scene break or chapter heading. King draws us into her account with her memorable voice and wording, and with the stiff backbone that marks her as a New Englander, and the soft heart that drives her choices as a mother. Everything she has done, good and bad, was out of that love, she claims, and by the end of this quick-moving tale we believe her.

We discover right away that Dolores is suspected in the death of her employer, a cantankerous older woman, Vera, who lives in a large house and employs a number of maids, gardeners, nurses, and so on. Dolores is the most senior of the staff, having outlasted many of the others who fell victim to Vera's high expectations. Now, though, Vera is dead, and the last person with her was Dolores. The suspicions are increased by the fact that Dolores was a suspect in her own husband's death years earlier--a murder that Dolores now confesses to!

The heartbeat of the story is Dolores Claiborne's care for her children, her desire to set them free from an abusive father, and the extreme actions she takes to bring that about. We know the basic outcome--a dead man. We know she is guilty--she's confessed upfront. But it's our desire to understand the motives that keep this story moving forward. It never reaches the heights of suspense found in some of King's other work, and yet it leaves us with a sense of justice and wonder. As always, King shows how much he cares for his characters, and he does a fine job of presenting two older women, both single now, both pushed to the edge of sanity in their efforts to make sense of their crumbling worlds.

ok first of all this isnt King's Horror books....
OR at least i dont conside this horror........
this is probably one of KING's best work that features a WOMEN.......
and how he TRIUMPHS!!!!!!!
ITS not Predictable like CUJO, SHining or MISERY........
it has much story and depth and characters and issues of right and wrong............
the story isnt really suspense but how KING writes is just SO MISTYFYING........
and even though there isnt much supernatural going on KING's Writing is so good it itself is Supenatural..........
this is a GOOD story about a wome who has a Confession to make.......
i also watched the movie after i read the book and i loved the MOVIE too very much........actually the moviehad a better ending............
but still all in all a SUPERB KING BOOK!!!
4.5/5

30 years ago, Dolores Clairborne did an unspeakable thing: she killed her husband. She had her reasons, yes indeed, and the townsfolk always suspected her of doing it...but nothing was proven.
Yesterday, the elderly woman under Dolores's care died an accidental death. Now, police think Dolores did it.
This is her confessions.
Stephen King has written a beautiful, unique, and powerful novel: the confessions of a murderess, trying to prove herself innocent of the crime she is being convicted of by admitting to a past crime. It is the story of a woman who has seen sixty-some years go by, most of them filled with some kind of hardship. It is the story of a woman toughened by life, compassionate yet unflinching in the face of fear.
"Dolores Claiborne" by Stephen King is gripping and unforgettable. You've just got to get your hands on it.

It was an exciting read. Although it was not my cup of tea, i will not deny that it was wonderfully done. It took me a few chapters to really immerse myself in this book but once I did, I had some trouble putting it down. As always, King creates people that you connect with and begin to feel for, routing for them in their endeavors. As I said, the style was not my cup of tea, I prefer a shoot-em-up, galactic battle, helms deep, lightsaber waving, epic journey (although Dolores has her own epic journey). I would have given it a 5 star, but this review is about my personal feelings for the book, not how i would have felt if something was different

This was the first Stephen King novel I ever read. I was dumb founded by the book. I heard he was a good writer, but this book flattened me. I have only ever read 2 of his novels, so I'm not the greatest King critic, and I do not know his good from his bad. What I do know, is that I enjoyed this book immensely. I never wanted to put it down, ever. I would be tired, and sleepy, and have to put the book down, but where was I to stop reading?....The plot was good, and I thought the charactors were very well explained. I could see them clearly in my head. The story line took a few turns I wasn't expecting as well, and that's always fun reading. It was so suspensefull for me to read this book. If you are even thinking of buying, or reading this book, then I suggest you do. I doubt that you will be disappointed. If I could give more stars, then I would.

Written in the POV of the title character, and in the local dialect, this story took me a couple of pages to get into, but after that, it was a page turner.
Dolores is a tough and gritty woman and much of the story recounts her dealing with the stern and often cruel woman that she works for during a thirty plus year time span, her abusive husband and the towns rumors that she might be a murderer.
After reading "On Writing" my first King book, I thought I'd try something else and this was a good place to start. I wasn't interested in reading King in the past because I once picked up "Cujo" and happened to turn to a page that was filled with gross descriptions of violence.
But since I enjoyed the movie adaptation of this book as well as several others King has written, I thought it was time to put aside my previous concerns and read one of his novels. I guess if your looking for horror, blood, and the supernatural this book probably won't be as enjoyable as you'd hoped, but it is an engaging story and the main character is likable. I was rooting for Dolores almost from the start.
I doubt many King fans would need to bother reading a review like this, so if you got this far and are wondering if you should give one of his books a try for the first time, I recommend this novel as a good place to start.

Leave it to Stephen King to write what I consider one the best fictionalized accounts of domestic violence on the market.

Sometimes there are unusual twists in real life just as in Delores Claiborne, such as the desperate measures taken by Dolores to protect her child from incest and the most unusual string of events that led to an investigation of how Delore's abusive husband died.

Delores Claiborne is an excellent read because 1. it has a good plot, believable and realistic, 2. Good Writing (KIng of course), 3.There are several conflicts going on within the story, societal, mother-daughter, internal conflict within Delores and a moral conflict for the reader; and the third reason this is a good choice for a domestic violence read is 4. the dynamics are there, a layer beneath the surface at times.

I hadn't read a Stephen King book for many years and now I remember why. Dolores Claiborne is a short book, when you compare it to other novels by Stephen King, but I feel this story could have easily been told in 150 pages.

The first 50 pages are gripping, but Stephen King has a problem: he rambles on and on and just doesn't know when to stop. He will tell you a thousand times that Vera was a spiteful woman, over and over again. Then he'll make sure you understand that Dolores' husband was a drunkard and he'll repeat it over and over again, till you find yourself skipping pages till you find something more interesting to pay attention to.

There are only so many times when you can repeat yourself without it becoming boring to the reader. The way I see it, we read books, because we want to be entertained, but reading Dolores Claiborne sometimes felt like a chore.

As you may already know, this is a non-stop narration, written in the first person. The story is told by Dolores herself and Stephen King has always been great at writing his characters. He has a gift when it comes to making you feel these characters are real people.

When you read the first half of Dolores Claiborne, you can hear Dolores in your head, telling her story. It doesn't read like a book, with dry paragrahs and endless descriptions, but like someone telling you a story, telling you their side of the story, with lots and lots of colloquialisms. It reads as if someone had typed Dolores' confession from a recording.

HOWEVER, halfway through the book, Stephen King seems to have forgotten Dolores is an uneducated and illiterate woman and he turns her into a poet. I found that annoying and hard to believe. Let me get this straight... so this is a woman confessing she killed her husband and she's sitting in a room with two police officers, a woman that's never gone to school, mind you, and for some reason she starts saying things like:

"the eclipse wasn't total yet, but it was close. The sky itself was a deep royal purple and what I saw hanging in it above the reach looked like a big black pupil with a gauzy veil of fire spread out most of the way around it. On one side there was a thing crescent of sun still left, like beads of molten gold in a blast furnace..."

Who talks like that? An illiterate woman? I don't think so.

That's Stephen King talking, not Dolores.

Fragments like that would make me stop reading and go: Who talks like that for God's sake?

There are many examples like that, but my point is it didn't feel real. It'd have been way better if Dolores had stuck to her colloquialisms and hadn't tried to be Shakespeare or Stephen King.

All in all, this is a somewhat interesting book with a very obvious ending, a story told by a likeable heroine, albeit one with a vocabulario an unschooled woman can't possible have.

If Stephen King is not your cup of tea, this book won't change your opinion about him.

Like the short story "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," Dolores Claiborne is more of a character piece than a horror novel. It invites us to get to know the titular character and her strange and interesting life. For fans of King's horror, this may be disappointing, but it still makes for an engrossing read.
King being King, after all, the book can't be all rural Maine slice-o-life. It centers around Dolores' confession of a murder she may or may not have comitted, and around a day when a solar eclipse gave her a glimpse of someone else's life (mirroring a similar scene in Gerald's Game). Though the story is told in flashback, King creates admirable suspense.
Above all, though, read this for Dolores' point-of-view narration. It's not Pet Sematary, but it's a heck of a read.

A few more stars are needed to rate this book, five are not enough. This book is one of the most compelling I have read. If you think all King can give you is gruesom and out of this world think again and give it a try. It is a very touching story that dances between abuse, molestation, betrayal, FRIENDSHIP and LOVE. Shows the extremes a mother can go for her children even if they do not know it, it is LOVE what she is giving without expecting anything as reward. Also, it give us the true value of friendship even when it is between to strange humans as are Dolores and Vera. It takes humans to extremes that we all could get too before we realize it. When you think you have figure it all, surprise you have not. It keeps you thinking and wondering for a while after you are done reading. Trully a master piece.

I'm probably the only person in the world who hadn't read a Stephen King novel, and am so glad that I started with this one which is a writing gem. Dolores Claiborne is a plain woman who has had to work hard all of her life to support herself, her three children and her violent, lazy, drunken sot of a husband.The entire book is Dolores' narrative to the police chief and a police stenographer, with only her words being recorded. She had worked as housekeeper to a wealthy old woman, a recluse who became more and more difficult as she aged, so Dolores' work and caring for her children was her entire world. I found this slim book to be a marvel of pithy condensation, without a wasted word and well able to tell a life story of great drama and to hold the reader's attention for a good one day read.

DOLORES CLAIBORNE by Stephen King.

A good story about ordinary people who turn into something different but they are still ordinary.

Two stories are told. 1: Dolores is married to an abusive man. I loved her strength about it. I loved what she did to make him stop hitting her. I wonder if more women could do that.

CAUTION SPOILER:
She threatened to hurt him while he slept, and he believed her. Of course I did not like that she was forced to kill him, but it was a good story about how and why she did it.
END SPOILER.

2: Dolores works as a housekeeper for wealthy woman Vera. Vera becomes bedridden and Dolores becomes her caretaker. Vera was mean. I liked hearing about their relationship: ordinary people doing un-ordinary things.

I enjoyed the first story more than the second. I want happy endings, and this barely squeaked by as happy enough for me.

The entire story is told in first person which I did not like. Dolores is telling her story to the local constable/police-guy Andy. It was hard to lose myself in the story because of that.

The actress narrating had an elderly voice which fit the character (Dolores is 65 when telling her story), but it wasn't pleasant. There was a grating quality to it. I prefer a softer voice.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 1st person Dolores. Unabridged audiobook length: 9 hrs and 16 mins. Swearing language: strong but rarely used. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: one partial scene referred to with no details. Setting: around 1960 to 1992 Little Tall Island off the coast of Maine. Book copyright: 1993. Genre: relationships fiction, abused women.

Forget that Stephen King wrote this book, and leave your expectations at the door.
I was totally engrossed in the story of this poor, honest, hard-working woman and her husband and children. Also, the dynamics between her and her disabled woman boss. Dolores overcame many obstacles in her life, and there is not quite a happy ending.
Yes, the book is vaguely a murder mystery, but all the plot threads had me captivated from the beginning.
I take one star away from the book because it can get quite graphic about body functions -- after all she was a parent with nose-picking children and took care of a disabled woman with a bedpan. If you don't like that kind of realism, don't read this, but if you can stand the discussions, this is a great read. I was rooting for Dolores the whole way.

I have always felt that Stephen King's writing is at its best when he focuses on character development and pictures of small-town America rather than the supernatural. "Dolores Claiborne" is a case in point.

I was a little startled when I started reading this book to find that the text is all first-person stream of consciousness. Everything is written in dialect, with quite a bit of phonetic spelling. There aren't even any chapter divisions. This style of writing takes a little getting used to, and I thought it might wear thin quickly. It didn't, and the fact that King can keep a reader's attention in this style for so long, without breaking character or style in the slightest, is amazing. King is truly one of America's great authors, despite his attraction to the macabre and the supernatural.

Stephen King knows so well how to tell a story. For me, the only problem with his books is that I don't want them to end. Even the enormously long ones I just gobble up so quickly. ("Delores Claiborne" is not one of the long ones.) But there are a lot of them ....so I just go back and start reading them all -all over again. "Delores Claiborne" is definitely one to re-read. The story and the characters are fascinating and alive. I do read other authors, but none have the magic of a King novel.

I first read this book as a teenager, in 1992. Even though I have not lifted a page of it since, something about it stuck in my mind. Dealing with real horrors, such as spousal abuse and incest is a departure for King; even though his previous novels have explored the human side of horror, this short novel devotes itself almost entirely to it. Written in the first person, Dolores Claiborne tends to drag, as all King books do, and there's not much in the way of narrative. There aren't too may plot-twists here. The beauty of the book is in it's languid pace. Dolores Claiborne is an aged woman whoses life experiences are told in vivid detail. This is by no means King's best work, but it's good to see a writer change gears and write something different. Eight years on, I'm compelled to give the book another go.

This perfect book by King is a complete turn from his usual gorey horror stories. Its the tale of an island woman accused of murdering the woman she takes cares of, but really killed her husband back in the 60's. Its told in her confession to the police, and the interesting thing is there's no monologue, quotations or whatever, which ive never seen before. The book shows the great side of women, and King can really get in touch with the feminite side of his nature. You feel for Dolores, you care for Dolores and everything she does. Looking for a creepy tale, don't bother. Looking for the tale of a bold, loving and brave woman who's love succeeds over everything, read this. You won't be dissapointed.INTERESTING SIDE NOTE:The book Gerald's Game, which was released the same year as this, has in intersting tie-in with the book. The plots mingle with each other in the middle of both stories, very subtle, but noticable. Thats the only tinge of the supernatural in this book at all.

Once you get used to the broken English of Delores Caliborne, you can really get into this book. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical at first having just read Gerald's Game (which came out right before this and is briefly linked during the solar eclipse scene) and thinking to myself "Oh, Jesus, another chick book by Steve-O! What's he thinking?" Well...Delores Claiborne is a chick book, and she is one tough chick. Not a horror novel at all (that shouldn't worry any real Stephen King afficionado, anyway) Delores Claiborne is a rambling auto-biography of a salt-of-the-earth, tough-as-nails housekeeper who killed off her husband 30 some odd years ago. This is a trip into the human psyche. A brilliant character sketch. This is Stephen King showing us why he is one of the greatest writers of all time. Story. Pure and simple. Ayuh.

Dig it!

Dolores Claiborne is a housewife with problems. Stephen King gives us a window into her thoughts, feelings and desperation in her efforts to find a way through each new crisis. The activities and advice of her employer and friend add a startling new dimension to the plot as Dolores is led down the path of her life by events out of her control.

So brilliant is the writing, that the reader is at her side, feeling what she feels, as she finds the ultimate solution to her problems.

The characters are so real one feels that one knows them. It is a wonderful story that you shouldn't miss!

When I first started reading this book, I'll be the first to admit I did not like it. The fact that it's one long chapter kinda bothered me, I had to pick when to stop reading and it was hard! The story is about a woman that kills her husband and is then later accused of killing her employer [a woman that makes her life miserable] and the story is basically her confession. Dolores tells it with such heart, that you want to reach out and give her a hug. Her story is amazing, and it really makes you wonder about what you would have done if you were in her situation. You can feel her pain, and her love for her children. I wanted to rate this book a four and a half, but since I can't, it gets a five. I think a five suits it better anyway.

Dolores and her story will stay in your mind for years, particularly if you experience it by way of the superbly done audio book, narrated by Frances Sternhagen. It is the only way I will read this book. The narration brings Dolores to life as print on paper cannot do. The Maine accent is done perfectly, never overdone, and never over-acted! (Finally, a CD version is available!)

This is the only King book I've re-read. I don't care for the supernatural elements of his other books, but this and "Misery" stay on my shelves alongside authors like Sue Miller, Barbara Vine, and others who focus more on character than fast-paced story. King does a fine job of writing with sensitivity and humor from a woman's perspective.

This is a classic work by King which transcends the "horror" genre into which he has been categorized. The novel format adds a real richness and depth to the story and characters, and I was honestly disappointed to reach the end. The interrogation with the Scottish doctor is classic, my favorite part, yet this book succeeds on so many levels that to even try to encapsulate what I liked about it in this limited space would do it injustice. Just get it and read it. Once you get into it 20 pages or so, you'll be stuck. I give it 5 stars, which is extremely rare for me -- this is work as worthy of a literature class as it is an enjoyable day's read.

This book was excellent. There's no other word to describe it. It grabbed my attention at the onset, and never let go. I read this book in only two days, and I know that I'll wind up reading it again. King doesn't rely on the supernatural; he relies soley on the terror of real life. This novel was similar to The Body and The Shawshank Redemption, and even the short story, Dolan's Cadillac, in the fact that it features a regular person, who faces an extraordinary, yet entirely possible, situation. It's the kind of book that keeps you asking yourself, "What would I do if I was in this situation," and hoping that the main character turns out ok. This book isn't just for stereotypical King fans; it's for anyone looking for a moving, fascinating story.

For those Stephen King fans who haven't read Dolores Claiborne, and for those of you who don't normally listen to books on tape, the Audio version of Dolores Claiborne is not to miss. It is absolutely SUPERB! Because the book is written in a first person narrative, it is perfect for audio. And Frances Sternhagen, reading as Dolores Claiborne, nailed the role. Her accent is right on, and through 9 hours she doesn't miss a beat. While this IS somewhat off the beaten path for Stephen King, it still keeps you on road the edge of your seat. So--if you have a long trip coming up, get Dolores Claiborne and a thermos of coffee, and enjoy!

I've read the book and have seen the movie. They always say that the book is better than the movie and in this story its true. Stephen King is my favorite author and this is definitely a good story of his, it captures younger and older readers. I enjoyed Dolores Claiborne's character. She was straight out and to the point. The only thing that I didn't like about the book,was that there was hardly and person to person talking. She just gave a police report the whole time. Its quite a twisted story with a different type of ending,but for the most part, it was enjoyable and I definitely recommend it!

I enjoyed this King novel. It had some disturbing parts (i.e., child molestation), but overall was a decent book. I felt that King did a great job of developing the characters in this one, especially the main character. I personally recommend checking this book out if you are a King fan or are in the mood for a good book. It’s not my favorite King book, but it certainly left a strong impression with me.

When I started reading this book, I was bracing myself for a bad experience--I'd just finished Heart of Darkness by Conrad, which is three big chapters and boring as all get out... And this book is one big chapter. I was also wondering what the "supernatural" plot of this book was--Most other Stephen King books I'd heard the basic gist before I'd begun reading, and this one offered me no clue.
I was pleasantly surprised to find, however, that this plot only had a hint of the supernatural, and that it was basically a picture a small-town poor woman grafted onto the character of a tiny Maine island. Normally "mundane" fiction bores me to tears, but this was one of the best books I've ever read. It had the superb characterization of any Stephen King novel--better, in fact, than most of the others--but without the bone-chilling plots that simultaneously sucked me in and repulsed me. I found myself reading the novel, thinking, "This sounds like Mom," and "This sounds like Grandma." I sincerely felt like I knew Dolores.
That isn't to say that it's without supernatural elements. The supernatural bears very little relevance at all, but it helps build the mood of the novel and the tension of the climax. Instead of the setting and the characters being centered around a supernatural plot and hook that relates (and indeed, is a metaphor for) some aspect of human nature, it's merely a portrait of a fictitious but nonetheless realistic person, with the supernatural and mundane plot elements centered around a lifelike character and setting.
One thing worth note, though, is that this is very light reading for a King novel--I finished less than twelve hours after I started. The brevity of it aside, this is a great book, and it really gives you a picture of what it's like in any small rural hamlet... with just a glimpse of something darker that will satiate any King fan's need to escape the mundane.

My mother won't touch Stephen King, but she loved Dolores Claiborne. Consider it "the gateway drug" for those who thought they'd never touch the stuff.

This is a witty, offbeat, unexpectedly original book that's not exactly a mystery or a suspense thriller--though it contains elements of both--but a confession. This hasn't been done very often (Anne Rice did it memorably in Interview with the Vampire) and requires the creation of a personality strong enough to sustain interest over hundreds of pages, as in Huck Finn or David Copperfield. Luckily, Ms. Claiborne is both entertainingly outrageous and remarkably sympathetic.

Anyone can jump out of the closet and yell boo, but Dolores Claiborne shows skeptics the genuine literary talents behind King's success. Its subject matter is what can drive a hardworking mother to murder, and what it means to grow old without family ties. Read it and marvel at its sheer storytelling vitality, more than a little reminiscent of Twain and Dickens, and as vivid as either. King writes from the feminine, and even feminist, perspective with truly remarkable conviction. He sells the character from the inside out, and we believe everything she has to say about men, children, work, and life. It's a feat that's achieved through pure talent and energy.

Genius is energy, it has been said. And that may be King's genius: the energy he puts into his work, constructing irresistible plots, believable settings, and most of all, fleshing out compelling, and strangely recognizeable, characters who speak our secret thoughts. His work has always displayed more depth of thought and observation than it's been given credit for. This deeply felt page-turner satisfies on various levels and will reward repeat readings.

A straight up well written tale about a woman's struggle from darkness to the light. It is written non-traditionally with no chapter breaks. It is just the title character telling her story from beginning to end in the first person in one long narrative; like a very long monologue. King brings the character to life vividly and he held me from beginning to end. It is well done. I enjoyed it.

Dolres Claiborne is the story of womans life on a small island. Dolores Claiborne is the maincaracter in the book. She's taken to the policestation for questioning there she tells the whole story of her life. thre are no chapters in the book. It just continues like a conversation would do. You hear about the other people in the book when she talks about them, to them or respond to what they ask her. It's an interesting book which doesn't gets boring. It's worth reading if you like to hear a exiting biography from the real life. If you want action, action and action I wouldn't recomend it

I have never been that big of a reader but I was able to really focus on the book Dolores Claiborne by Steven King. It was a book that I could have read front to back in one sitting if I could have stayed up all night. Steven King did a really nice job of telling the life of a woman that had gone though hell and served.
In the being, the main character, Dolores, is being questioned about the death of Vera Donovan, who was Dolores� boss. Dolores starts to tell about what happened but first she gives some background about her life to help everyone understand why people would think she would have killed Mrs. Donovan.
Dolores starts by talking about how Vera had been going out of her mind more and more over the years by the time she died. Even though Vera was not to well of in her mind, she still had her up day and even good weeks. In though days and weeks Vera would try to get the best of Dolores. One way was she would try to do this was by not going to the bathroom all week and then on cleaning day she would let it all come out when Dolores was trying to get her worked done. Dolores started to get the best of Vera though. She knew that when Vera did not let a �clinker�out at lunch that the game had started. This was the funnest part of the book. What happened was something I never expected.
After talking about Vera getting old, Dolores went on to talk about why and how she killed her husband. He had been the worse thing in Dolores� life and what he did to their daugher, Selena, made him the devil to Dolores. On the day of the eclipse Dolores got Joe drunk and then lead him out to the well and had him fall in. The worse thing to Dolores about the murder was having to wait for him to die and then having to wait for the police to find him in the well.
The last thing Dolores talked about was how Vera died. Everyone thought that Dolores had done it because no one thought Vera could walk and the rolling pen lieing on the stairs made it a little odd. I do not want to give it away but I will say that after the murder the biggest surprise of the book came. It is in the last 20 to 25 pages and its something that give that book its own little twist. It made reading the book worth it.
This book really showed the life of a small town women with a good-for-nothing husband. The way she cared for her family, the way she made a living, and even the way she talks really shows her small town nature. This was something I could really relate to. Another good thing about the book was how really it seemed. Everything that happened seemed like things that really could happen to a person. The part I loved the most was that the ending did not let the reader wondering what happen to some of the little thing in the book. The scrape book is something everyone should read in the book. The hardest thing about the book was trying to keep track of what time period it was in. The book jumps back and forth from the 60�s to the present time quit often.
I love to read Steven King books and this one really lived up to the author�s abilty. I would recommend it to anyone who loves to read Steven King books. It is also great for anyone who loves to read books about murders. It�s a great book for anyone to read. I would recommend it to anyone.

Kathy Bates should have received an Oscar for this movie too. I think if Mister King could cast Kathy in a majority of his movies, they'd probably all be hits. Although, I have to say, I didn't see him make his usual cameo appearance in Delores unless I missed it. This book was truly heartwrenching. From start to finish, you're wondering WHY! The daughter obviously has some deep seated problems and it's nice at the end of the book when she goes back to aid her mother in court. Another hit book by Stephen followed by another hit movie by Kathy Bates.

One of the last decent books published by King, it makes me believe that perhaps King has misplaced the bulk of his efforts by writing horror. Unlike _Gerald's_Game_, it accurately captures the unhealthy attitudes America has (used to have) regarding women, and the nature of strong women who manage to overcome those prejudices. To quote from the book, "Sometimes you have to be a high riding bitch. Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman's got." Astonishingly well-written, King even manages to overcome my personal pet peeve regarding his writing, and ends the story exactly where it needs to be ended and not a page later.

If Steven King were to write a book on how to change oil in a car, I do believe that I would buy it, and not be the least bit dissappointed in doing so. The man just has a way with words. Anything he writes is bound to thrill and chill the reader.

Dolores Claiborn is no exception. Though it was not written in the typical Steven King fashion in which so many of us are accustomed, I found it to be a definite don't want to put downer, page turner.

I suppose one of the things that really amazed me about this book, was how Mr. King was able to tap into the female psyche so profoundly. But that's only the tip of the iceberg, as far as this book is concerned. Though it doesn't touch base with horror, as in 'STEVEN KING HORROR', it does have its chilling moments, as well as mystery, heartache and that quirky Steven King humor.

To put it simply, Dolores Claiborne was an OUTSTANDING, FANTASTIC read! I LOVED IT!

I am somewhat of a King fan, and I am a fan of more literary fiction, but the two just don't work in the same book. This is a confession of an old woman named Dolores Claiborne (hence the tittle.) The story takes forever to develope and leads up to only one or two relatively exciting but brief scenes. There are no chapter breaks, meaning you'll have to pick your own place to stop--given the choice I ended up reading only a page or two at a time which drug out the slow reading even longer. It just wasn't worth it.
The one plus: yes, he does write about women very well, but that fact alone does not make a good book. You need more than great characterization. You need great characterization, plot, narrative flow/pacing, prose, and interest-holding. One out of six just doesn't do it.

This is a masterpiece from King. One of many really. A stark first person narrative with no chapters...just one long look into the life of one abused woman. This is a shining example of King's innate ability to create living, breathing people in his work, and Dolores is one of his strongest by far.

What would you do if you were accused of a murder? What if you were accused of two murders?
In the book Dolores Claiborne you go through the whole thinking process of what would I do? Stephen King draws you in from the first page! The setting is on an island called Little Tall. It starts out when the main character Dolores Claiborne a house wife, mother, and cleaning lady, is accused of killing Mrs. Vera Donavan, her long time employer. This isn't the first time people have called her a killer. Her husband was found dead and the people of Little Tall thought she did away with him. They didn't blame her; he always got drunk and would beat her. King takes you through every thought Dolores has and you feel like you're a part of her. I really liked this book! It was different than any other book I've read. Maybe I liked it because it was about a single mother doing what she has to do to protect her kids. I think the character Dolores Claiborne was very brave- she didn't care what people thought just as long as everything was okay at home. She would fight back when her husband would beat her. She also went straight to the police after the death of Vera Donavan. I think in this book Stephen King was trying to shock his audience. He accomplished this. The way he chose to tell the story had you hooked through the whole book.

This is my first Stephen King - this book spoke to me. I loved Dolores Claiborne as a character and Kathy Bates as Dolores in the movie. She was excellent. I think Stephen King did a great job writing a book mostly about women especially the rabidity of Dolores as a mother. I thought the understated alliance between Dolores and Vera despite their different backgrounds was written and conveyed wonderfully. Dolores is so witty and hilarious and smart in a way only a Mainer with an extensive history of human analysis of the native Downeaster could have written. According to his 60 Minutes interview, Stephen King says the critics say he is not a great literary writer - but I thought this book was excellent and he deserves praise. So I give it 5 Stars for Dolores and her Maine witticism. And 5 more stars for a woman who protected herself & her children.

This book packs a massive punch! The attitude, personality and lingo king gives to this story is remarkable to say the least. Blew through it in 2 days. Dolores tells an amazing story but when you get right down to it Dolores Claiborne is about pain, heartache, redemption and revenge. It's probably my favorite of all king's non-horror based novels. The horror in this novel is real life. A must read and a king top 10! Claiborne shines all the way to the end.

With this novel Stephen King proves once and for all that horror is not the only thing he can write. There is not a hint of monsters or the supernatural here; what you have is a brilliant, moving, and suspenseful tale of the explosive things that can happen in families when love turns sour. This riveting novel should show everybody who thinks of Stephen King solely as a "horror writer" that the man is simply an excellent writer whatever his subject matter may be.

I can't believe this book wasn't written by TABITHA King. It's an amazing feminist confessional, riveting, powerful, exciting, witty as heck, and you just come to love Deloris by the end. I thought Kathy Bates was superb in the movie role, and I was surprised at how much I loved the film, because the book is deep and richly detailed, yet the movie captured the mood. Stephen King is our Charles Dickens - he champions the underdog. Real treasures, book and man.

Stephen King went for something different here and got it. "Dolores Claiborne" is the dullest, longest story of his I ever read.

In terms of page count, "Dolores" isn't that big by King standards - just about 370 pages. But by any other metric, "Dolores" is exhausting.

For all but the last three or four pages, the book is narrated by the title character in the form of a deposition to local authorities in her small Maine town. Dolores wants them to know just how she killed one person and didn't kill another, but she takes her time about it and King's normally fluid storytelling gets bogged down in a lot of Maine dialect and joking about boogers and sex that makes Dolores sound more like a 12-year-old boy than a 68-year-old woman.

There's less story in this full-length novel than in most of King's short stories. Dolores is a wronged woman who finds recourse in her spunky inventiveness. This is fine for a while, but the first-person tubthumping eventually made me claustrophobic. The lack of chapter breaks makes the book feel more like a fictional rant than an organized story. The opening section of around 80 pages has Dolores detailing a secondary story in numbing detail, about a mean and demented old lady with cast-iron bowels and a perfectionist streak who somehow manages to stay on Dolores' good side. She's the one that gives Dolores the great idea that it might be okay to kill a husband if the guy is really nasty.

"Husbands die every day, Dolores," she is told. This leads into the main story, about Dolores and her rotten husband.

[SPOILER ALERT] Seeing Dolores finally exact her justice does satisfy a bit. But it takes way too long to develop and comes off as excessively convoluted when it happens. Counting on your booze-soaked victim to step exactly on the right spot in the ground where a deep well has been capped seems an incredible gamble for someone we are told is as bright and careful as Dolores. But in this book, unlike others King has written, the concept of creative uncertainty is totally absent. Dolores' self-reliance and fortitude are not only the key ingredients in the narrative, but the whole story besides. [SPOILERS END].

King does avoid his usual supernatural elements for the most part, though there is a strange bit of business about dangerous dust bunnies which crops up and some vague vision Dolores keeps having - connected to a solar eclipse - which links, strangely and with no real payoff, to another novel King wrote around the same time. He doesn't seem to be plotting here, just writing, and the result is tired and phony. Recommended only for insomniacs who don't care whether they finish a book just because they started it.

For me, the only remarkable thing about "Dolores Claiborne" is that a novelist so talented could publish a novel so dull...and have it become the best-selling novel of 1992!

This is a great book, and the film is just as good, in a different way. This is one wife's struggle with domestic abuse at the hands of a drunken, insulting, violent husband. It leads to this desperate woman's disturbing scheme of retribution and murder. Powerfully chilling. In the book, Stephen King tells Delores' story from her own point-of-view, her own regional Maine dialect, her own voice. This gives the story an added realism that is most effective.
David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

I borrowed the CD version of this book from my local library. What a treasure! Frances Sternhagen brings the novel to life with her perfect Maine accent and the appropriate attitude. The novel is a rip-snortin' yarn, beautifully written. I only took it out because it was available when I stumbled upon it, and was shocked at just how good it was and how quickly I was drawn in. A marvelous character portrait of two staunch women who stood by each other through the worst of times. Probably more appealing to women readers.

This book is really good. I just finished Stephen King's Geralds game right before this which I recommend reading before you read this so you understand some of what Dolores is talking about the image of "the" girl. This book makes you feel like it is a true story that is why I liked it so much. I can sort of relate to the character dolores some except I didnt do what she did with my husband :). Anyway I would definately recommend this. I would like to see the movie now to see if it compares to the book.

This is a wonderful mystery that begins in a slow roll, but becomes a page turner. Delores Claiborne, a cranky old maid for a rich lady, tells the story of her life. Highly recommended, but it is not a horror story if that is what you are expecting from Steven King.

Another lightly supernatural book, and different than King's usual stuff, is "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon." This story of a nine-year-old girl lost in the Maine woods is super. Read it! Click here: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

I have read tonnes of King's books and if I were asked which was his masterpiece I would, in a heartbeat and with no hesitation, say 'Dolores Claiborne.' I *loved* this book. I felt like Dolores was sitting beside me talking in my ear from the first line to the last. Although King has written a string of modern classics, nothing quite shows off his skill and talent like this one.

Dolores Claiborne is another of Stephen King's non-horror works in the vein of Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and The Body. The characters are riveting and the narrator's way of speaking is effecting.

The book I choose was Dolores Claiborne by Steven King. There are 368 pages. The important characters in this boook were Dolores, Vera Donovan, and Joe (Dolores's husband) The story takes place in the pretty recent times. The setting is in Maine. The plot of the story is that Dolores killed her husband and was accused for killing Vera Donovan her employer. I think that the "golden line" or "the line i wished i had said" is "Jeezly-crow you never shook the ants out of your pants have you?" On page 24. It really has nothing to do with the story but i think that its a neat line. The cover of this book is showing a house which represents Vera Donovans house. Then the title "Dolores Claiborne" has an obvious meaning because she is the narater of this story telling her life. I would rate this book probably an eight out of ten. I would recommend this book definately because it was a very interesting book very creative and i could hardly put it down!

Dolores Claiborne is an interesting experiment for SK. Just the fact that is't written without any breaks, like one long chapter makes you realize it's not the sort of story one has come to expect of King. The book is very compelling, very powerful and mesmerizing, and it grips you with just the same force as the rest of SK's work. The character of Dolores is one of the most credible he's ever delivered, and the plot is flawlessly conceived. This book will appeal to everyone, the diehard King fan and the casual reader. However, if you want to read about hideous creatures that lurk in the city gutters and devour unsuspecting men, or you want a non-stop thrillride that'll leave you shuddering in the dark, this is not the book you have in mind. This one extends the storytelling dexterity of King, because it wanders away from his usual supernatural themes, and unfolds the journey of life and tragedy of a real-like character very solidly.

One of his few written in 1st person narrative, Dolores Claiborne is much more reality based than most of his books. The villian in the story is an abusive, alcoholic father/husband rather than any kind of evil monster. This novel shows King is in fact an accomplished suspense writer and is in no way reliant on the supernatural to make a good book. It's a great read that is very underated.

I loved the movie very much hence I read the book. There are differences but both are outstanding. This is very different than all other Stephen King's books. It is not horror. More of drama but very well written and you would dive deep into the book and with the character Dolores. Great reading

When Dolores is found holding a rolling pin over the head of her former employer, her dead former employer she became the prime suspect in what was thought of as a murder investigation but when Dolores tells her side of the story nobody could have imagined the truth, maybe she didn't kill, this time! Stephen King has never written such a moving story of love, loyalty and murder.

I read this book in about a week last summer. It truly touched my heart. The message I got is that sometimes we have to rely on people outside of our families to survive. I cried often reading this book because I found the characters to be so moving and life like. For instance when Mrs. Donnovan counsels Dolores about her marriage problem. I am a big Stephen King fan and a big Lifetime movie fan so I guess you could say this was the best of both worlds LOL.

This is a story about two deaths. Dolores Claiborne is the housekeeper for a wealthy lady, and the police are investigating her death.

There is the killing of a husband in the past, and the police suspect Dolores of causing this death, as well. The novel then goes into the backstory of the relationship between the two women, and what is really going on.

The audio book is my first taste of this story and Frances Sternhagen did a superb job at narrating. There are parts of this story that made my scalp prickle, which is a testament to Sternhagen's style, as well as King's writing. Really an enjoyable listen, in my opinion. Highly recommended.

I happened to find this book on the side of the road with a few others. It is a spectacular thriller. One of the best books I've read. I was so blown away that it only took me a couple of days to read. Definitely recommend!

The book I choose was Dolores Claiborne by Steven King. There are 368 pages. The important characters in this boook were Dolores, Vera Donovan, and Joe (Dolores's husband) The story takes place in the pretty recent times. The setting is in Maine. The plot of the story is that Dolores killed her husband and was accused for killing Vera Donovan her employer. I think that the "golden line" or "the line i wished i had said" is "Jeezly-crow you never shook the ants out of your pants have you?" On page 24. It really has nothing to do with the story but i think that its a neat line. The cover of this book is showing a house which represents Vera Donovans house. Then the title "Dolores Claiborne" has an obvious meaning because she is the narater of this story telling her life. I would rate this book probably an eight out of ten. I would recommend this book definately because it was a very interesting book very creative and i could hardly put it down!

Dolores Claiborne is an interesting experiment for SK. Just the fact that is't written without any breaks, like one long chapter makes you realize it's not the sort of story one has come to expect of King. The book is very compelling, very powerful and mesmerizing, and it grips you with just the same force as the rest of SK's work. The character of Dolores is one of the most credible he's ever delivered, and the plot is flawlessly conceived. This book will appeal to everyone, the diehard King fan and the casual reader. However, if you want to read about hideous creatures that lurk in the city gutters and devour unsuspecting men, or you want a non-stop thrillride that'll leave you shuddering in the dark, this is not the book you have in mind. This one extends the storytelling dexterity of King, because it wanders away from his usual supernatural themes, and unfolds the journey of life and tragedy of a real-like character very solidly.

One of his few written in 1st person narrative, Dolores Claiborne is much more reality based than most of his books. The villian in the story is an abusive, alcoholic father/husband rather than any kind of evil monster. This novel shows King is in fact an accomplished suspense writer and is in no way reliant on the supernatural to make a good book. It's a great read that is very underated.

I loved the movie very much hence I read the book. There are differences but both are outstanding. This is very different than all other Stephen King's books. It is not horror. More of drama but very well written and you would dive deep into the book and with the character Dolores. Great reading

When Dolores is found holding a rolling pin over the head of her former employer, her dead former employer she became the prime suspect in what was thought of as a murder investigation but when Dolores tells her side of the story nobody could have imagined the truth, maybe she didn't kill, this time! Stephen King has never written such a moving story of love, loyalty and murder.

I read this book in about a week last summer. It truly touched my heart. The message I got is that sometimes we have to rely on people outside of our families to survive. I cried often reading this book because I found the characters to be so moving and life like. For instance when Mrs. Donnovan counsels Dolores about her marriage problem. I am a big Stephen King fan and a big Lifetime movie fan so I guess you could say this was the best of both worlds LOL.

This is a story about two deaths. Dolores Claiborne is the housekeeper for a wealthy lady, and the police are investigating her death.

There is the killing of a husband in the past, and the police suspect Dolores of causing this death, as well. The novel then goes into the backstory of the relationship between the two women, and what is really going on.

The audio book is my first taste of this story and Frances Sternhagen did a superb job at narrating. There are parts of this story that made my scalp prickle, which is a testament to Sternhagen's style, as well as King's writing. Really an enjoyable listen, in my opinion. Highly recommended.

I happened to find this book on the side of the road with a few others. It is a spectacular thriller. One of the best books I've read. I was so blown away that it only took me a couple of days to read. Definitely recommend!

Stephen King's Dolores Claibourne, though written in an odd manner, is a perfectly crafted tale about the relationship between two womem, Dolores Claibourne and Vera Donovan. Heads are turned when rich island resident Vera Donovan dies in the care of Dolores, and she has to do all she can to prove she's innocent, and the fact that her husband was found dead in their yard before dosen't help. Written as one long chapter, with no one else talking except Dolores, some readers may find the book a little daunting, since the lack of chapter breaks seem to increase the size. But belive me, this book will have you hooked since the minute you start. This book is especially perfect for you, if you want to read Stephen King, but don't enjoy Horror.

Dolores Claiborne is an interesting change from Stephen King's usual style. His skillful use of the local dialect is important in setting the scene, which itself is unusual for a King novel, for it is not surreal. In fact, this is the only King story I have read that could actually have happened (and I'm sure it has before). A magnificent piece of writing.

Delores was no coward at heart; she had no yellow streak in her like her husband Joe. Everybody in town knew why she killed Joe, everybody but Selena, her only daughter. Years later when Selena comes home for an estranged visit she is forced to understand her mother's decision. Selena must also hire an attorney to defend her mother against a second murder charge...

Stephen King spins another tale with yet more fascinating, interesting characters and plots lines in this story, Delores Claiborne. I love this book and have read it several times. It is very enjoyable and fun to read. The movie is also good, but wait until you've read this to watch it. Stephen king has written better, but this is much better than average.

A peek into the darkness of the human mind, as well as the emotional bond between two women brought on by violence, betrayal, desperation, and love. King does this, in my opinion, much better than monsters and ghouls. King's talent lies in his knowledge of just how to reach deep inside all of us to where that despair and terror lies. Bravo!

The book is interesting from various points of view. One that strikes you right away on the very first page is that it is a monologue part of a dialogue, where the interlocutor text is completely unimportant. I haven't seen this before, and I am syrprised how WELL it worked out. Of course, some readers will be dissapointed just because of that, but I suppose that if they want to get scared each year with the new Maestro book, then they might as well stick with Salem's Lot and reread it. (...)

Nightmare & Dreamscapes is a great book, and I would recommend it to readers with an open mind and a limitless and thrilling imagination. You have to believe to get into the book. The supernatural stories devilishly designed by Stephen King take you where you never dreamed of going before. - B. Blevins, BDH

This was the most boring stephen king book that i have read. there is about 400 pages, and at about 15 pages i was board. It just goes on and on. the movie is not that good but it still was a lot better than the book. i have read about 20 of king's books and this was the only one i did not like. He's still the best

This has been the first King novel I have read since Cujo bored me to death. Why did I put myself through the pain? Why do they consistently place the new non-horror Steven King books in the horror section at bookstores? Here I was hoping to get a descent scare, like King had done in his previous years with such classics as the Stand, Salem's Lot and the Shining.
Did I ever choose the wrong book. This is basically about a maid named Dolores who gets in trouble because her husband and her employer both die. It almost felt like a diary. There were no horror elements in this novel at all. It follows the trials and tribulations Dolores has with her husband, employer, her daughter and the cops. This was not a fun book to read and I can't recommend this one to anyone. Good thing I got this hardcover for six bucks in the bargain bin. Boring.

I think this book was the best because i liked how grumpy Vera Donovan tricked Dolores and how Dolores tricked Vera.But i think the best part was when Dolores killed her....... well i think all let you figure that out yourself.if your interested in this book buy it at the local bookstore thanx bye

Dolores Claiborne was absolutely the best! I was very impressed and I could not put it down for anything. King's use of "northern" storytelling was execellent and the plot was even better. I definitely recommend this book to anyone that is a King fan. It is one of his best.

Dolores Claiborne is one of his best books(of those which i have read) It was gripping and almost made me cry. The Ending was very surprising and whwn my last 20 pages were still to be read, i went out and bought the Movie, which was disappointing since they left out the best part.

it's been awhile since i read 'dolores claiborne', but i still remember that i loved it. it has a strong and fascinating plot, a great main character (dolores), and really leaves you thinking. i definetely recommend it; i guess it's sort of a feminist book, from what i remember. like 'rose madder', which i also loved.

Another great story. Stephen King is not typical in this book. The development of the characters is awesome. You felt everything that Dolores was going through and you know you would have done the same thing. You route for her. She is spunky, bitter but she means business. Great book. I highly recommend this book. I read it in about 6 hours.

Delores Claiborne is a rough-around-the-edges woman. While reading it, one thing becomes clear; she has had a very rough life. But the circumstances surrounding her life make her seem unloving and ruthless. She is, however, a product of her environment in which it seems as though there is no escape. Mr. King brilliantly uses language of one who seems uneducated and less fortunate. But is she? On the contrary......

Dolores Claiborne; a woman who has lived a life of both physical and emotional abuse and managed to come out on top is an encouraging story for anyone. King touches upon the depressingly true point of alcoholism, which is a key part of the novel. The detail in the emotion makes any reader feel as though they are living this life of abuse while constantly walking that thin line between sanity and insanity. King describes highs and lows that will send the readers emotions soaring. This is the classic story of domestic abuse due to lack of love and alcoholism. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves drama and want's to learn a few lessons about relationships because King offers plenty in Dolores Claiborne.

Stephen King explores the dark side of the female in this novel . For one reason or another plots of reprisals and murders unfold - slowly it evolves as we discover more about the characters and their pasts. Discovering more - as the characters do about one another and by quiet understanding we realise the dark side of a woman scorned. It is scary that behind an innocent patient female fasade can be a cold calculating killer - in any woman who is opressed, threatened and pushed to the limit.

What I like most about this book is that there's no chapters. It's all a bunch of paragraphs stringed together. I love it! Not a scary novel, so SK fans beware. Still, with a great story and memorable characters it does good to the meaning of the word "novel." Read it.

I enjoyed it. I think you will too. The writting technique is perfect, the atmosphere is adequete, and the story is very enjoyable. A good King book. I have not seenthe movie yet, but I hear it is good so I will check it out.

what a great book! all the characters are so real! the story leaves you satisfied. when i read this book i thought: thats exactly what should have happened. interesting plot. i think it is his best book. thank you sk!

With books like this one from King , you do much better reading the thoughts in the minds of the characters. This one will keep you up at night reading. Another one that i loved. I highly suggest this one.

If you don't read this book for any other reason, read it for Dolores' amazingly sharp sense of humor. The Vera poop scene - omg. I laughed till my face hurt. The reference to another character in another book (Gerald's Game) is a wonderful little touch. Just a great story, full of pain, mystery, and yes, horror.

Well, to put it short: I liked this novel a lot! It's sometimes creepy, sometimes sad, sometimes funny but most of all it's just pure genious! As far as I'm concerned this is definitely one of his better novels.

The story is more dramatic & mysterious than frightful. SK can truly write! Frankly speaking, I prefer his style in stories like Dolores, Green Mile & Misery,than those gory skin creeping ones.

This book is different from many King books in that it doesn't contain any supernatural activity. It is a story about the lengths a mother will go to in order to protect her child from something that could happen to any of us.

The adaptation only skims the very good plot of the novel and Jennifer Jason Lee is awful and irritating as the daughter who isn't even in the novel in her adult form. None of the eeriness from the novel is in the movie. If the screenwriting had been better, the portrayal of the other characters could have made this a good movie.

A classic Stephen King book! I loved it. It has plenty of unexpected twists and turns (as usual) and is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Don't miss this one. The title doesn't sound especially exciting, but don't let that fool you! Get the book and have a good time.

I used to he a big bookworm about 10 years ago and then just couldn't find myself to get through a couple of pages of ANY book without falling asleep - even if it was a book I wanted to read. I'm happy to say Dolores Claiborne is the first book I've been able to finish in the last 8 or 9 years. Amazingly done, great story. Kudos, Mr. King.

Dolores Claiborne; a woman who has lived a life of both physical and emotional abuse and managed to come out on top is an encouraging story for anyone. King touches upon the depressingly true point of alcoholism, which is a key part of the novel. The detail in the emotion makes any reader feel as though they are living this life of abuse while constantly walking that thin line between sanity and insanity. King describes highs and lows that will send the readers emotions soaring. This is the classic story of domestic abuse due to lack of love and alcoholism. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves drama and want's to learn a few lessons about relationships because King offers plenty in Dolores Claiborne.

The main factor that makes this story is that it is written as if Dolores is telling the story, which she is. This makes it easier to read, even if it is unbelievable. It took me just under three days to read, because it is so good and is very easy reading.

I thought this book was very good! It gets very intense in the middle of the book when Dolores decides she's gunna go through with her plan of killing her husband. I love Stephen King books. He's such an awesome author.
Mrs. Galloway- Mountain View High School, Boise, ID

Is a gripping book about a hard working, hard talking woman who one day decides she will know longer take the abuse in her life any longer. I usually do not like to read Steven King books but this one I highly recomend to anyone who likes to read geat story telling.

This isn't the normal SK freakshow kind of book. It's a real story about the rough life of a hardworking mother. I liked it, new is good, although he kind of spent 2 pgs. too long on one topic. Altogether it would be worth your money. Dolores is one heck of a woman. =D

It's a lovely book, told by a woman, where King explores the feminine side of life. Once again, the Master proves that he's much more than a "spooky writer". If you liked "Dolores Claiborne" you'll love "Rose Madder".

Two biddies at war with each other, and an abusive husband--hard to stomach. However, this does get better as the plot unfolds. It loosely parallels Poe's Cask of Amatillado. The main character is one strong-willed woman. But pretty yucky. Have Tums at hand with this one.

I have been a long-time fan of Steven King's and make it a point to read all his books. But, Jesus, Mary and Joseph!! What was this book? Sure, the concept was intriguing, which is why I bothered to buy the book. The writing?? Dull-witted and far too conversational. Some may mistake Dolores' rambling monologue as character development, I saw it as one really played-out soliloquy. This confessional mode that King chose for this book really seems like an out from doing the hard work himself. The language level was atrocious: barbaric, stupid: the kind that appeals only to goons, idiots and, apparently, Americans(Canadians are Americans, too, genius). I scoff on the term Best Seller. As far as I'm concerned, it means beans.

I've been a Stephen King fan since he began writing, and I've seen him try all kinds of "styles". Some for the better, some for the worse.

I believe Mr. King truly excels when he writes his books in the first person; these are the books that grab me and don't want to let me go. "Dolores Claiborne" is one of those books that hooked me from the very first page. And what's really unusual is that he is writing this from a woman's point of view. I have to hand it to him -- he did an excellent job of it, too.

I'd classify this as a suspense novel; while there are some elements that are somewhat supernatural, there's not a lot of it, especially compared with many of Mr. King's other books. It's just a plain good read! (In fact, although I do own a paper copy of "Dolores Claiborne", I also bought a Kindle version -- something I haven't done with a lot of his other books.)

In my opinion, "Dolores Claiborne", along with "11/22/63" are his best works to date; I wish he would do more writing in the first person.

Is a gripping book about a hard working, hard talking woman who one day decides she will know longer take the abuse in her life any longer. I usually do not like to read Steven King books but this one I highly recomend to anyone who likes to read geat story telling.

This isn't the normal SK freakshow kind of book. It's a real story about the rough life of a hardworking mother. I liked it, new is good, although he kind of spent 2 pgs. too long on one topic. Altogether it would be worth your money. Dolores is one heck of a woman. =D

It's a lovely book, told by a woman, where King explores the feminine side of life. Once again, the Master proves that he's much more than a "spooky writer". If you liked "Dolores Claiborne" you'll love "Rose Madder".

Two biddies at war with each other, and an abusive husband--hard to stomach. However, this does get better as the plot unfolds. It loosely parallels Poe's Cask of Amatillado. The main character is one strong-willed woman. But pretty yucky. Have Tums at hand with this one.