Book Review: Duma Key - A Novel (fiction)

Warning: Plot Spoiler

Stephen King’s, “Duma Key - A Novel,” is a tale that takes place far from King’s usual haunted domain: the State of Maine. Instead, a tropical Florida Key is the locale for this disturbingly addictive narrative.

Edgar Freemantle is a construction millionaire who lost his arm – and bumped his brain – thanks to a broken crane. In exchange for his memory, a loving wife, and a normal life, Edgar receives the gift (or curse) of mental powers. It seems his ‘new life’ on Duma Key (his Doctor recommended a change of scenery from Minnesota) and a renewed interest in the art of painting pictures has sparked a power (fed by the strange tropical island?) to predict with paintings…and shape the future itself.

As his talent for the canvas rapidly grows, Edgar meets his neighbor, Jerome Wireman, a lawyer who has also had an injury and is aware of certain strange things about life on Duma Key. Wireman, a lovable character who tends to speak in Spanish (from his years married to a Mexican woman), cares for Elizabeth Eastlake, an Alzheimer patient and descendant of an early Florida landed family. She has inherited the overgrown and undeveloped Duma Key. Renting a beach front artist retreat called Salmon Point (or ‘Big Pink’ to Edgar), Edgar begins his recovery and new life while listening to the seashells whispering beneath the house as each wave rolls in.

Soon a ship with ragged sails and seaweed-covered hull begins appearing at sunset and dominating his paintings. This ‘plague ship’ has an agenda that threatens to consume him and those he loves. The schooner’s captain has slept long but now is awake. And she is hungry – ravenous -- not for blood, but for souls.

The story of injury and age permeates this tale, and is perhaps influenced by Mr. King’s own brush with death. Also, the protagonist goes form amateur to American Wonder, much as Mr. King’s own writings have finally been getting the recognition they deserve.

Overall, Duma Key is a long, slowly building story with rich characters, an interesting locale, and an antagonist that you strive to understand. When the author shares the big picture (or, in this case, painting) in the final chapters, all you can do is shiver. This one is hard to put down and is perfect for the cooler, shorter days of the encroaching fall.

Bibliography: King, Stephen (2008). Duma Key: A Novel. New York, NY: Scribner