The Quad

Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: Entertainment

This Mother's Day will mark the 35th anniversary of the publication of Stephen King's first novel "Carrie." Since then, he has written over 40 novels and more than 200 short stories. These works have been turned into countless blockbuster movies, including 1994's Academy Award nominated "The Shawshank Redemption" and Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining." He is among America's most celebrated working novelists and earlier this year he released his latest work entitled "Duma Key."

"Duma Key" is the story of Edgar Freemantle, a successful contractor from Minnesota who loses his arm and suffers a severe brain injury during a job site accident. Freemantle loses his memory for a time after the accident and is forced to relearn many things that people often take for granted. On top of that, he also must endure painful physical therapy to overcome injuries to his ribs and legs in addition to his lost arm. All of this plunges him into a deep depression and eventually costs him his wife, who leaves him because she can't handle his emotional state.

On the advice of his psychiatrist, Dr. Kamen, Edgar decides to get out of Minnesota for a while in order to help his recovery. Edgar settles on a small island on the Gulf of Mexico side of Florida called Duma Key as the perfect place for his rehab.

Before he leaves, Kamen advises him to take up a hobby or find something that he used to like to do as another aid to recovery. The only thing Edgar can think of that he used to like to do is draw. He had never done more then some occasional sketching while on the phone but Edgar decides to give it a shot.

While on Duma Key, Edgar hires a young man named Jack to drive him around and help him out around the house. He also meets the island's only other inhabitants at the time: Miss Elizabeth Eastlake, who owns the island, and her caretaker, who goes by the name Wireman. Edgar's artistic abilities soon begin to flourish by leaps and bounds while on the island. Before long, Edgar gets tangled up in the island's dark and dangerous history and he realizes that the key to surviving it may be hidden in his paintings and also in the drawings of a long forgotten little girl, who suffered a similar head injury.

Unfortunately, people tend to focus more on the mesmerizing worlds that King's characters inhabit, overlooking the characters themselves. King is a master character creator and that is on display in "Duma Key". Throughout the course of the novel, the reader is placed directly in Edgar's shoes and endures each hardship and triumph with him. The story's events unfold in the past tense as Edgar tells us of his time on Duma Key, and by the time he finishes he feels like an old friend. The supporting characters are just as well-rounded as Edgar. Elizabeth provides part of the story's emotional core, something that hits in full towards the middle of the novel. Wireman is the friend everyone wishes they had. He stands by Edgar no matter who, or what, threatens him.

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