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Lisey's Story  By  cover art

Lisey's Story

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Mare Winningham
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Publisher's summary

Now an Apple TV+ limited series starring Julianne Moore and Clive Owen

The “haunting...tender, intimate book that makes an epic interior journey” (The New York Times), Lisey’s Story is a literary masterpiece - an extraordinarily moving and haunting portrait of a marriage and its aftermath.

Lisey lost her husband, Scott, two years ago, after a 25-year marriage of profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, best-selling novelist and a very complicated man. Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey knew there was a place Scott went - a place that both terrified and healed him, could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it’s Lisey’s turn to face Scott’s demons, to go to that terrifying place known as Boo’ya Moon. What begins as a widow’s effort to sort through the papers of her celebrated husband becomes a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited.

“Intricate...exhilarating” (The New Yorker), perhaps Stephen King’s most personal and powerful novel ever, Lisey’s Story is about the wellsprings of creativity, the temptations of madness, and the secret language of love. It is a beautiful, “rich portrait of a marriage, and the complicated affection that outlives death” (The Washington Post).

Don't miss more from Stephen King.
©2006 Stephen King (P)2006 Simon and Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

"As much about the facets of longtime marriage as it is about the characters themselves, Lisey's Story offers a poignant glimpse at abiding love and the tides of grief, and the internal language of relationships of all kinds." (Atlantic Monthly)

"In Lisey's Story, Stephen King makes bold, brilliant use of his satanic storytelling gift, his angelic ear for language, and above all his incomparable ability to find the epic in the ordinary." (Michael Chabon)

"Lisey's Story is bright and brilliant. It's dark and desperate. While I'll always consider The Shining, my first ride on King's wild Tilt-A-Whirl, a gorgeous, bloody jewel, I found, on this latest ride, a treasure box heaped with dazzling gems. A few of them have sharp, hungry teeth." (Nora Roberts)

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Featured Article: The Shining—Book vs. Movie


Set in the claustrophobia-inducing snow-covered peaks of an isolated hotel in the middle of the Rockies, The Shining is a classic work of psychological horror that’s just about as chilling as it gets. But it’s so, so much more than your classic story of spirits and a man’s descent into madness—it’s also a tender yet deeply painful meditation on addiction, family, abuse, and redemption. Stanley Kubrick rejected Stephen King's initial treatment of the screenplay, and the author was largely dissatisfied with his novel’s jump to the big screen. So what exactly are the differences between The Shining movie and the novel?

What listeners say about Lisey's Story

Average customer ratings
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Stephen King never fails

The narrator was perfect. Great story. Loved it! Very imaginative. Felt like an adventure. Fun, creepy, moving.

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Lisey's Story

loved it, especially Mare, telling me a story, but I love anything Stephen King. I cant wait to be told another story.

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interesting read

this book was oddly enthralling... not scary, just intriguing and made you want to continue listening.

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a homerun for Stephen King

I loved it it was awesome their story was great the characters was real and you could really feel their anguish and their sympathy and real ability to connect with them

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hmmmm, different.

The story was hard for me at first. The narrator is the main reason I kept listening. She did an amazing job. The story turned out to be good I appreciated its subtle references. At times I found myself thinking, "where does he come up with this stuff?" Then I realize, he has drank the water of the pool ;)

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Enjoyable King Novel

I really like most Stephen King stories and this one, while not my favorite, was a very good listen. The reader was excellent and I got lost in the story (which is what I like best about King's stories). It was definitely a slower build, which doesn't bother me, and it was a bit of a tear jerker at times too.

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different and not

I find this work to be one King's purest. It swims in the supernatural but also seems to reveal something magical in his own heart. It is a love story in some of the ways that Bram Stoker's Dracula is. The power of love to endure even great evil is both beautiful and wrenching. Mare Wininngham is the best possible choice as narrator. Brilliant.

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Best Audio Ever

Amazingly Read!!! Beautifully done!! could not ask for a better read. I listen to several times a year

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    4 out of 5 stars

Starts a bit slow but ends very satisfyingly.

At first it felt like a story about a grieving widow and someone tried to force in a fantasy aspect that didn't fit. Fortunately, as the story went on it became more natural and definitely enhanced the ending.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Re-Read

Lisey's Story plus Later and Outside are surprisingly the same read to me. I only picked Lisey's Story because of an interview I saw Stephen King do on YouTube. I love most of all Steven King's books, but I think it's time to take a time out. I am reading them to close together, they are all sounding the same. Mare Winningham was fabulous. . Thank You

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