Lisey's Story

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Mare Winningham

Length: 19 hrs and 21 mins

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).

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©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)

Great book, perfect narration

Oh m'gosh! Mare Winningham was perfect for this! She is extremely talented. Because each voice was SO well done, I forgot they were all one person. I've never complimented the narrator before the writer before, but she totally deserves it! The book was also pretty good. ;) Ha! Actually, it was fantastic. I love the time and detail he took weaving this story. It's a beautiful love story despite being the thriller/horror/fantasy book you would expect from Mr. King. I truly loved it.

A good and relatively short story from Mr. King

this was a fun little (comparatively to some of his other works) read from Mr King

Absolutely fantastic

This is my absolute favorite book. I love the way Stephen King is able to really capture the internal language of a marriage. I love the creative way he talks about mental illness or at least that’s my take on it. I love everything about this story I’ve read/ listened 7 times now. The narrator way perfect for this story. She really made thus story come alive for me.
Just love it

great

great narrator, great author, great story. I always enjoyed liseys Story and it was nice to listen to it rather than read it this go round

loved it

great story and awesome voice characterization! really enjoyed this book and the pace of the audible. thank you!

A complete gem

I love Stephen King, this book was so much like him and yet, completely unlike him. I cried the entire last chapter. Love love love.

What else but 5+

Stephen King does well writing from a woman’s perspective. Good story but still far from being as good as The Stand.

A Great Way to Revisit This Story

I read this story when it was originally released many moons ago, so I decided to listen to the audiobook to revisit the story. What a great experience! I still love this tale and feel that the audiobook really brought the characters to life.

Lisey's Story

Everything that can be said about this novel and King's masterful telling has been said. King has been quoted saying this is his favorite story, and it's abundantly clear this is a love story, as only King can tell one.
Having been married for a dogs age myself, I can attest to the language of married couples, both spoken and silent. It's pure gold.
What didn't I like?
The story could have been lighter on the cutesy language and pet names. Smucking grated on me after the first twenty times. Because, let's face it, sometime you just need a good hard F*** for punctuation.
Mare Winningham's performance was adequate, but my suggestion is, please, for the love of all that is holy, if you can't "do" a Maine accent, don't even attempt it.
It became annoying listening to Ms. Winningham slipping into a southern drawl (which she does well) when a Yankee twang was expected. As a Mainer, it makes you cringe.
The sections she reads as young Scott are perfection, and heartbreaking.
Overall, I recommend this novel. Particularly for someone looking for something lightly paranormal...long on story and satisfying as any conventional King offering.

Slow start but then you can't stop listening

This is definitely King. A great love story with his twists. It does start slow but once it picks up you can't stop listening to it. So "strap it on" to get through the beginning.