The Gingerbread Girl

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Mare Winningham

Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

In the emotional aftermath of her baby's sudden death, Em starts running. Soon she runs from her husband, to the airport, down to the Florida Gulf, and out to the loneliest stretch of Vermillion Key, where her father has offered the use of a conch shack he has kept there for years. Em keeps up her running - barefoot on the beach, sneakers on the road - and sees virtually no one.

This is doing her all kinds of good, until one day she makes the mistake of looking into the driveway of a man named Pickering. Pickering also enjoys the privacy of Vermillion Key, but the young women he brings there suffer the consequences. Will Em be next?

©2008 Stephen King (P)2008 Simon and Schuster, Inc.

Running on Empty

Loved it! Stephen King always delivers! Mare Cunningham performance was perfect! Excellent read for all!

I loved this Book

Mare Winningham was so great! It felt so real and kept me on the edge of my seat until the end. I will look for more narrated by Mare.

Great story!

This should be a movie. I think Morgan Freeman would be great as the drawbridge operator. Leonardo DiCaprio could be the villain and the starlet could be Kate Upton.

I think Mare Winningham did ok, but parts of her narration were weak. the story by King was excellent... most excellent!

Wonderful

This was a wonderful example of his work. Is was full of drama and suspense as well as heart felt emotions. I really felt connected to Em and felt that I could relate to her story ....up to a point. Any one who has ever lost someone knows that the good dreams are worse than the bad. Just when you get to know her and like her she is thrown into turmoil. I will not let anything away of this wonderful book but I would highly recommend it. It was definately one that I will listen to again. I wish it was out in paper version as I am not normally a audio fan. I can not see the action when I listen but it was worth it to have the chance to experience Em's story. This is the only reason that I gave audio another chance and I am glad that I did. Mare Winningham did and excellent job at narrating and made the characters come to life. I will definately look for more books from Stephen King on audio as well as those that are narrated by Mare Winningham.

A short, but wrenching look at dark occurences

What made the experience of listening to The Gingerbread Girl the most enjoyable?

The narrator was the absolute perfect choice for material, she exuded strength and wounds and really embodied the character. It was the kind of story that makes you twist, and consider the reason behind misfortune, but not in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow kind of way. It's more like dominoes. One falls and the others fall in the particular way they do because of the first one.

What other book might you compare The Gingerbread Girl to and why?

Not sure what I'd compare it to, but it was fantastic.

What does Mare Winningham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She's superb. She is strength, femininity embodied, by exuding that same felinity and eschewing the things about her that make the character a traditional "lady" she leaves the marriage, the baby she describes as defective is lost, and her fire and fight when trying to be reduced to a female play thing by Pickering are all to me these dual existences of the feminine. Mare Winningham's dedication to embodying that made this story so identifiable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes definitely!

Any additional comments?

Stephen King is a grand artisan and discoverer of adjacent realities and he does not disappoint with this.

Terrifyingly written

Mare did an amazing job reading this horror book, full of facial grimacing suspense. It’s a must read for anyone with short or long commutes.

The gingerbread girl

The Gingerbread Girl was a very good book. I love Stephen king books and this another fantastic book

This was not one of Mr. Kings better books.

I've been a fan for many years. This book isn't to great. To me it was just OK. The narrator did a good job reading it tho.

Thanks Steve...for the listening

A great King short...as good as it gets!

Once again, Steohen King impresses

A great story. I highly recommend this to any fan of Stephen King. Do yourself a favor a get this audio book!