Happy Halloween!
I’m currently working on a longer review of Stephen King’s Night Shift, but I wanted to post a review of a horror story today, Halloween 2020. So here is a brief review of King’s A Good Marriage. It was published in 2010 as part of the novella collection: Full Dark, No Stars. The story was adapted for the big screen in 2014.
Publisher’s Synopsis
What happens when, on a perfectly ordinary evening, all the things you believed in and took for granted are turned upside down?
When her husband of more than 20 years is away on one of his business trips, Darcy Anderson looks for batteries in the garage. Her toe knocks up against a box under a worktable and she discovers the stranger inside her husband.
My Thoughts
How well do you really know someone? Could a close member of your family be hiding an incredible secret? In “A Good Marriage”, Stephen King explores these ideas with the skill of a truly gifted writer.
King introduces us to Darcy Anderson and her husband Bob, a happily married couple living what appears to be an “ordinary life”. He spends some time describing their marriage and how it has developed over the years they’ve been together. As is common with King, his characters felt like real people within just a couple of pages. I was completely invested in them and enjoyed getting to know them via the little details the author revealed.
This is a fantastic story which reminded me why I used to be a fan of Stephen King. I want to tell you what happened in the story in detail, but it would spoil the thrill of reading it for yourself. It’s one of those stories that I couldn’t wait to get back to when I wasn’t reading it. It’s a novella, so I’m sure it can be read in one sitting. I wanted to do so, but I started reading it in the morning before work, then had to wait until the evening to finish it. Don’t you just love it when you get pulled into a good story! What was the last story that did that for you?
Wakizashi's Reviews 
Yeah, King had/has some real skill. Why did you give up on him? I did because I just became uncomfortable with enough of his subject matter that it was no longer worth it to me to read the good writing if I had to deal with “X”.
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Not sure because it was a long time ago. I think I just moved on to other writers. Or perhaps I got sick of the length of his books…😉 This one was really good, though. It has made me want to read more of King’s books.
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King seems to have always been good at creating characters that feel real. That’s the big thing that always drew me to him, especially when he wrote about kids. Brought me back to my youth. But like you and Bookstooge I also stopped reading him at some point. For me I don’t think there was a reason, I just moved on to other things. But reading a number of your reviews over the last few months has left me wanting to go back and read some more King. Not sure when I actually will, but I’m looking forward to it, likely starting with some older shorter work.
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If you do return to some older King, I really hope you enjoy it. I recommend “Quitters Inc.” and “One for the Road” from the collection Night Shift. I’ve been making my way through this early collection and some of the stories have been great! I’d kind of forgotten just how good King’s character writing is. Even when his stories struggle with their endings, at least we get to meet some skillfully drawn characters. Thanks for commenting, Todd.
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For a second, I thought this was Gerald’s Game but it seems like he explored another side of “marriage” here. 😛 I didn’t read Gerald’s Game though. I also saw the movie and it was actually pretty good, unlike a lot of other adaptations that were cruelly terrible hahah
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I haven’t seen the movie or read the book, but I’ve heard what it’s about. It sounds like a pretty harrowing story. I wonder how many “good” adaptations there actually are of King’s work. I recently enjoyed the film version of Doctor Sleep, for the most part. I’ve also heard that Thomas Jane gives a great performance in the film of “1922”, another novella from King’s “Full Dark, No Stars.”
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