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Nodd's Ridge
Caretakers
By all rights, they never should have known each other. Torie Christopher was a member of the Maine aristocracy, reckless and willful, wed to a blue-blooded doctor, and enjoying all the pleasures and privileges of wealth and position.
Joe Nevers was of the working class, married to a woman determined to keep him in his place, and with only his rock-hard strength and unbending pride to depend on for dignity.
Now, in a night filled with all the phantoms of the past and all the shifting shapes of love, Torie and Joe have to strip bare the truth about themselves and their lives...for they share secrets no one else knows...
Joe Nevers was of the working class, married to a woman determined to keep him in his place, and with only his rock-hard strength and unbending pride to depend on for dignity.
Now, in a night filled with all the phantoms of the past and all the shifting shapes of love, Torie and Joe have to strip bare the truth about themselves and their lives...for they share secrets no one else knows...
274 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
2 people are currently reading
457 people want to read
About the author
Tabitha King
33 books644 followersTabitha King is an American author. She is married to author Stephen King and is the mother of Joe Hill, Owen King, and Naomi King.
King was born Tabitha Jane-Frances Spruce in Old Town, Maine to Raymond George and Sarah Jane White Spruce and is one of eight children. Her primary education took place at St. Mary’s Grammar in Old Town, from which she graduated in 1963. She then attended John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor until 1967, and earned her Bachelor’s degree in history in 1971 from the University of Maine in Orono.
King was born Tabitha Jane-Frances Spruce in Old Town, Maine to Raymond George and Sarah Jane White Spruce and is one of eight children. Her primary education took place at St. Mary’s Grammar in Old Town, from which she graduated in 1963. She then attended John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor until 1967, and earned her Bachelor’s degree in history in 1971 from the University of Maine in Orono.
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March 5, 2025
A theme that has emerged in my reading this year is spouses who write. It was not intentional but that is the joy of mood reading. Before her husband became internationally famous, Tabitha King also wrote novels. Yes, they are also set in Maine and have a touch of mystery but nothing to spook my runaway imagination like her husband’s books, which I still read before noon hence I get nightmares. Stephen King says that Tabitha, known to him as Tabby, is his best first reader and editor. When they just started out, they bounced ideas off of each other. I am not sure who is the better writer, but after the publication of Carrie launched Stephen’s career, Tabitha fizzled out from writing novels. That is too bad because Caretakers, only her second novel, is quite good. She had to make a choice in raising three children or writing/working full time, and that is not an easy choice. It is a choice I think about daily, as I also chose to be a stay at home mom for years rather than working. It is a discussion that pops up throughout women’s history month as younger generations honor women who had to make that choice, allow the younger women of today to both work and have quality maternity leave time. Again, not an easy choice. I decided to read one of Tabitha King’s novels this month because I figured that she is more than her husband’s early editor. My hunch proved me correct.
Joe Nevers had a crush on Torie Christopher from the moment she arrived at Nodding’s Ridge as Guy Christopher’s young wife. The only issue is that both were married and Nevers played the role of caretaker to the Christopher family’s two homes. It would never work or would it. This is a memory that Joe Nevers reminisces about on Easter 1982 during a late season snowstorm. Seventy and still working as a caretaker, Nevers needs to dig Torie’s Cadillac out of her lake home, that he happened to have constructed, so that she can safely make her way home. The storm has knocked out power lines all over the ridge and Joe’s cronies think he is crazy to trek to the lake in this weather. Of course, everyone on the Ridge knows of the history between Joe Nevers and Torie Christopher. It is an open secret that has endured for thirty years, some facets of the relationship known to all, some that will eventually die with both of them. If it was anyone other than Torie Christopher, Joe Nevers would never attempt to head to the lake in a snowstorm. He had lived on the Ridge his entire life and knew better than to brave the elements; however, unlike both of his wives, one divorced, one long dead, Torie Christopher is the love of Joe Nevers’ life.
Torie Christopher has her own history. During the post war years she studied for a PhD in archeology at Harvard during a time when women obtained a Mrs degree or nothing else. Those women who did work usually had to stop as soon as they married or became pregnant. As the post war years became the 1950s, the societal assumption was that men worked and women raised the kids. Guy Christopher was a top obstetrician in Boston. He loved delivering babies, including his own two boys, and would never cut down on his hours and become a family man. Torie would either leave her boys with a nanny or bring them with her to archeological digs all over the world. The couple spent as much time apart as they did together, and, belonging to the upper crust part of society, time apart lead to unspoken affairs on both their parts. It was just done. Guy could not understand why Torie would keep digging instead of staying home and raising the children. Torie could not understand why Guy would choose long work hours over his family when they had plenty of inherited wealth. The couple stayed together because of the children- co-parenting did not exist in the 1950s. King has multiple tragedies befall the Christophers, paving the way for Torie’s not so secret relationship with Joe Nevers.
King writes the book in two parts. The first is flashbacks from Joe’s point of view, the second from Torie’s. Joe discussed the relationship with his two wives and that perhaps he was not the best husband. All he knew was to work as a handyman and caretaker, and this angered both his wives because they thought that he would sleep around considering he spent more time at work than at home. The only woman Joe ever had eyes for was Torie, and both his wives knew it. Marion left him, and Cora had some form of cancer, leading Joe to be her caretaker at times as well. The two were not compatible, Cora an outsider who came to the Ridge from Vermont after a toxic relationship with her first husband. Somehow, she married Joe, and it seemed that she did not know how to be a wife; it happens. After these memories are related, part two is told from Torie’s point of view. Now that she is snowbound with Joe Nevers, she traces their relationship from her college days and her marriage to Guy to all of her interactions with Joe over the years. According to acquaintances, Torie and Guy did have a loving marriage. They came from the same station in life and it worked for outward appearances. Inwardly, besides her work, it appeared that Torie loved Joe as much as he loved her. These Ridge secrets, large and small, would just have to eventually die with them.
While Stephen King has achieved worldwide notoriety, Tabitha is a quality writer in her own right. A lot of readers note that they only read this because she is Stephen King’s wife and that they found the book to be fluff. These readers most likely expected a carbon copy of Stephen King, but this is Tabitha writing, not Stephen. The readers who did enjoy the book noted that they wish that Tabitha had written more novels over the course of her career. Between being a mother to three kids and knowing that the family’s finances were in good shape thanks to her husband’s career, Tabitha’s writing life fizzled out. I believe if she had had the chance to keep writing and polish her craft, that she would have developed into a renown author in her own right. This is the choice that all women have to make at some point, wives of celebrities included. Joe Nevers and Torie Christopher are quality characters with layers to their past that make them memorable to their readers. Knowing that this is Tabitha King writing, not Stephen, I know that there won’t be any supernatural things emerging to alter the narrative. This is a book about two intertwining lives that reach their apex in a snowstorm. Now a senior citizen, perhaps Tabitha King can take up her own pen again. That would be entertaining.
3.75 stars
Joe Nevers had a crush on Torie Christopher from the moment she arrived at Nodding’s Ridge as Guy Christopher’s young wife. The only issue is that both were married and Nevers played the role of caretaker to the Christopher family’s two homes. It would never work or would it. This is a memory that Joe Nevers reminisces about on Easter 1982 during a late season snowstorm. Seventy and still working as a caretaker, Nevers needs to dig Torie’s Cadillac out of her lake home, that he happened to have constructed, so that she can safely make her way home. The storm has knocked out power lines all over the ridge and Joe’s cronies think he is crazy to trek to the lake in this weather. Of course, everyone on the Ridge knows of the history between Joe Nevers and Torie Christopher. It is an open secret that has endured for thirty years, some facets of the relationship known to all, some that will eventually die with both of them. If it was anyone other than Torie Christopher, Joe Nevers would never attempt to head to the lake in a snowstorm. He had lived on the Ridge his entire life and knew better than to brave the elements; however, unlike both of his wives, one divorced, one long dead, Torie Christopher is the love of Joe Nevers’ life.
Torie Christopher has her own history. During the post war years she studied for a PhD in archeology at Harvard during a time when women obtained a Mrs degree or nothing else. Those women who did work usually had to stop as soon as they married or became pregnant. As the post war years became the 1950s, the societal assumption was that men worked and women raised the kids. Guy Christopher was a top obstetrician in Boston. He loved delivering babies, including his own two boys, and would never cut down on his hours and become a family man. Torie would either leave her boys with a nanny or bring them with her to archeological digs all over the world. The couple spent as much time apart as they did together, and, belonging to the upper crust part of society, time apart lead to unspoken affairs on both their parts. It was just done. Guy could not understand why Torie would keep digging instead of staying home and raising the children. Torie could not understand why Guy would choose long work hours over his family when they had plenty of inherited wealth. The couple stayed together because of the children- co-parenting did not exist in the 1950s. King has multiple tragedies befall the Christophers, paving the way for Torie’s not so secret relationship with Joe Nevers.
King writes the book in two parts. The first is flashbacks from Joe’s point of view, the second from Torie’s. Joe discussed the relationship with his two wives and that perhaps he was not the best husband. All he knew was to work as a handyman and caretaker, and this angered both his wives because they thought that he would sleep around considering he spent more time at work than at home. The only woman Joe ever had eyes for was Torie, and both his wives knew it. Marion left him, and Cora had some form of cancer, leading Joe to be her caretaker at times as well. The two were not compatible, Cora an outsider who came to the Ridge from Vermont after a toxic relationship with her first husband. Somehow, she married Joe, and it seemed that she did not know how to be a wife; it happens. After these memories are related, part two is told from Torie’s point of view. Now that she is snowbound with Joe Nevers, she traces their relationship from her college days and her marriage to Guy to all of her interactions with Joe over the years. According to acquaintances, Torie and Guy did have a loving marriage. They came from the same station in life and it worked for outward appearances. Inwardly, besides her work, it appeared that Torie loved Joe as much as he loved her. These Ridge secrets, large and small, would just have to eventually die with them.
While Stephen King has achieved worldwide notoriety, Tabitha is a quality writer in her own right. A lot of readers note that they only read this because she is Stephen King’s wife and that they found the book to be fluff. These readers most likely expected a carbon copy of Stephen King, but this is Tabitha writing, not Stephen. The readers who did enjoy the book noted that they wish that Tabitha had written more novels over the course of her career. Between being a mother to three kids and knowing that the family’s finances were in good shape thanks to her husband’s career, Tabitha’s writing life fizzled out. I believe if she had had the chance to keep writing and polish her craft, that she would have developed into a renown author in her own right. This is the choice that all women have to make at some point, wives of celebrities included. Joe Nevers and Torie Christopher are quality characters with layers to their past that make them memorable to their readers. Knowing that this is Tabitha King writing, not Stephen, I know that there won’t be any supernatural things emerging to alter the narrative. This is a book about two intertwining lives that reach their apex in a snowstorm. Now a senior citizen, perhaps Tabitha King can take up her own pen again. That would be entertaining.
3.75 stars
April 1, 2017
"[Torie] looked around her. 'I love this place,' she said. 'It's like a great big secret. The only way you could know it all would be to be born here, and die here, and never leave it in between, not for a minute.' She laughed. 'Cuts me out, doesn't it? But at least I know it's a secret, and I know some bits and pieces. I can imagine the whole from that."
It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway: Tabitha King's writing style and subject matter is not very much like her husband's. Despite being married to one of the most well-known horror authors ever, King (which is used to refer to Tabitha from here on out) is her own writer. I don't know how many times I've been asked, while reading a novel by Mrs. King, if she writes scary stuff too. No, damn it, she doesn't; she writes some of the finest non-genre (yet I would argue her stuff falls closer to 'literary fiction' than anything else) I've ever come across. She has been a big inspiration on my own writing; in fact, her Nodd's Ridge novels (of which Caretakers is the first) helped give creative birth to a series of short stories I started last summer — all the tales are interrelated and take place in the same small Alabama town. That series isn't finished yet, though I suspect I will get back to it very soon.
Caretakers is a marvelous character piece about two people: Joe Nevers, an aging caretaker of vacation homes in the small town of Nodd's Ridge, Maine; and Torie Christopher, owner of one of the homes. The novel begins on Holy Friday, 1982, when Torie has come back to town unexpectedly; she is terminally sick and has come back to her favorite place to die. These two have a storied, complex past and most of this novel is told in non-linear flashbacks. It can all be a little hard to follow on the first read (characters sometimes make references to things that haven't happened yet, but said events will be shown at unexpected times), but King makes sure all the pieces come together in the end . . . and the final result is nothing less than a masterpiece. I don't know if I've ever read an author who does better character studies than Tabitha King, and Caretakers is one of her very best efforts.
I absolutely loved this reread. Despite the present day action taking place in the middle of a Maine blizzard and most of the flashbacks being filled with heartache, confusion, and disillusionment, this novel is an absolute joy; it teems with life, color, and feeling. It is so unfortunate that King's novels were overshadowed by her husband's output upon publication; she is a spellbinding weaver of tales all her own.
It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway: Tabitha King's writing style and subject matter is not very much like her husband's. Despite being married to one of the most well-known horror authors ever, King (which is used to refer to Tabitha from here on out) is her own writer. I don't know how many times I've been asked, while reading a novel by Mrs. King, if she writes scary stuff too. No, damn it, she doesn't; she writes some of the finest non-genre (yet I would argue her stuff falls closer to 'literary fiction' than anything else) I've ever come across. She has been a big inspiration on my own writing; in fact, her Nodd's Ridge novels (of which Caretakers is the first) helped give creative birth to a series of short stories I started last summer — all the tales are interrelated and take place in the same small Alabama town. That series isn't finished yet, though I suspect I will get back to it very soon.
Caretakers is a marvelous character piece about two people: Joe Nevers, an aging caretaker of vacation homes in the small town of Nodd's Ridge, Maine; and Torie Christopher, owner of one of the homes. The novel begins on Holy Friday, 1982, when Torie has come back to town unexpectedly; she is terminally sick and has come back to her favorite place to die. These two have a storied, complex past and most of this novel is told in non-linear flashbacks. It can all be a little hard to follow on the first read (characters sometimes make references to things that haven't happened yet, but said events will be shown at unexpected times), but King makes sure all the pieces come together in the end . . . and the final result is nothing less than a masterpiece. I don't know if I've ever read an author who does better character studies than Tabitha King, and Caretakers is one of her very best efforts.
I absolutely loved this reread. Despite the present day action taking place in the middle of a Maine blizzard and most of the flashbacks being filled with heartache, confusion, and disillusionment, this novel is an absolute joy; it teems with life, color, and feeling. It is so unfortunate that King's novels were overshadowed by her husband's output upon publication; she is a spellbinding weaver of tales all her own.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 19, 2024
This book deserves ALL THE STARS. Stephen King is, and always has been my favorite author, but I think Tabitha King is my second favorite. It's a travesty that there aren't more books by her, and I am genuinely sad this was the last I needed to read. Her writing is exquisite. She captures character in a way very few writer's can.
As I read this I imagined Torie Amos as the Torie in the book simply because the name is unusual and Amos' face seemed to fit. I imagined Scott Glenn at varying ages as Joe Nevers. Because I am very, very familiar with both of them the book was intensely visceral for me.
This is a story of Nodd's Ridge, sure, but it's also the very sad tale of two people with secrets. Two people with demons and sins. Two people like any others, except poor Torie seemed to get more than her fair share of heartbreak. So did poor Joe.
There were huge swathes of prose in this book that I read over and over. King surely understands what it is to be a person in pain. She describes it beautifully and in a way that made me hurt for the characters. Add in the fact that she has a few surprises in what isn't even a mystery, and I am completely won over. I wish, wish, wish Tabitha King had more books.
As I read this I imagined Torie Amos as the Torie in the book simply because the name is unusual and Amos' face seemed to fit. I imagined Scott Glenn at varying ages as Joe Nevers. Because I am very, very familiar with both of them the book was intensely visceral for me.
This is a story of Nodd's Ridge, sure, but it's also the very sad tale of two people with secrets. Two people with demons and sins. Two people like any others, except poor Torie seemed to get more than her fair share of heartbreak. So did poor Joe.
There were huge swathes of prose in this book that I read over and over. King surely understands what it is to be a person in pain. She describes it beautifully and in a way that made me hurt for the characters. Add in the fact that she has a few surprises in what isn't even a mystery, and I am completely won over. I wish, wish, wish Tabitha King had more books.
October 1, 2015
I hate when this happens. I have a whole list of books that I started but couldn't finish because they were too awful to put in the time. I have almost no time to spare anyway. I work all the gd time and still have no money. If it weren't for reading books I enjoy I think I'd go nuts. I won't put in the effort to read something I'm really really NOT enjoying.
But I still hate starting something and not finishing it.
But I still hate starting something and not finishing it.
Read
February 7, 2025DNF at page 142, so no rating.
Y'know, I paid a lot of money for this special Cemetery Dance edition of King's novel. Then I waited something like four years for them to finally get it done and sent out.
I'd previously read her SMALL WORLD novel, that didn't do a heck of a lot for me, but I also read THE TRAP, that I quite enjoyed.
And this one? Well, right up to page 120, aside from the grammatical errors (sorry, CD, you just ain't the publisher you used to be), I was actually quite enjoying the story. Then I read page 120...and the following 22 pages after that. And I'm out.
It may sound hypocritical, my reason for closing this novel and not reading further, considering some of the content I've written in my own works, so let me see if I can explain. But to do so, I have to get into some seriously spoilerific content, just so you know...
SPOILERS AHEAD
So, whether you read through the spoiler or not, suffice it to say, there were multiple events, back to back to back that just pulled me right out of the story.
...and I think I'm officially done with Tabitha King. Which is too bad. She can write.
Y'know, I paid a lot of money for this special Cemetery Dance edition of King's novel. Then I waited something like four years for them to finally get it done and sent out.
I'd previously read her SMALL WORLD novel, that didn't do a heck of a lot for me, but I also read THE TRAP, that I quite enjoyed.
And this one? Well, right up to page 120, aside from the grammatical errors (sorry, CD, you just ain't the publisher you used to be), I was actually quite enjoying the story. Then I read page 120...and the following 22 pages after that. And I'm out.
It may sound hypocritical, my reason for closing this novel and not reading further, considering some of the content I've written in my own works, so let me see if I can explain. But to do so, I have to get into some seriously spoilerific content, just so you know...
SPOILERS AHEAD
So, whether you read through the spoiler or not, suffice it to say, there were multiple events, back to back to back that just pulled me right out of the story.
...and I think I'm officially done with Tabitha King. Which is too bad. She can write.
June 29, 2021
I’d been living in New England for a couple of years when I picked up Tabitha King’s Caretakers. I was in the mood to read something with a regional feel and thought I was acclimated enough to this part of the country to be able to appreciate a story set here.
I was soon reminded, however, that despite the fact that folk in other parts of the nation may perceive this corner of America to be a fairly homogenous region (the football team is, after all, not named for Boston, but instead is the New England Patriots), the locals most definitely do not consider themselves to be one big happy family. The setting of the book is a community in Maine known to residents as the Ridge, and King wryly captures the tone of self-righteous self identity common to New Englanders. Describing an event in the background of one of the characters, she says, “Of course that had not occurred on the Ridge but way to hell and gone in New Hampshire, twenty miles west.”
Instead and to my surprise, I found a connection to this story from my own time growing up in the Rocky Mountains of northwest Montana. The people may live nearly the width of a continent apart from each other, but it seems that rural small-town life in the Northwest is much like rural small-town life in the Northeast. There are the same young kids playing baseball in the summer, there are the same local guys manning the volunteer fire departments and there are the same seedy affairs and marital infidelities. My grandmother would often describe our town as “a regular little Peyton Place,” and I don’t think it is just by happenstance that King refers to that program when one of her characters is watching television one day in 1968. These little details helped me to build an emotional connection with the book.
And I suggest to those who are interested that it will help to find some way to connect with the story early on, because this is a book that requires some effort on the part of the reader. It flashes from the present to the past, back and forth. And not to the same time in the past— first to 1912, then to 1951, then to 1956. All in all, we visit more than a dozen different time periods in the lives of the main characters over the course of 270 pages. The reader must pay close attention to the names and dates in order to begin to make sense of the relationships between the characters, and even then, it takes a while to build up enough of a store of information to be able to understand what is taking place.
To be honest, I found this narrative a bit tiresome to begin with. But the further into the story I got, I came to realize the really outstanding craftsmanship that King put into this technique. We first meet the main character, Joe Nevers, as an old man, but then get glimpses of him as a boy, and as a young man. And although Tabitha King was herself only in her early thirties when this book was published in 1983, she has artfully captured and expressed the interior mindset of an older person. Someone who is old knows that they are old. But they also know themselves as they were when they were young. This is what is revealed by King’s non-linear temporal skips, and it proves to be beautifully effective.
The other main character is Torie Christopher, an old woman, though not so old as Nevers. In Part One, we grow to know her through Joe Nevers’ present and the flashes of his past. To know her, but perhaps not to understand her. Certainly not as Nevers understands her, even though it is through him that we experience her. It is not until Part Two that we begin to see the world from Torie’s viewpoint. This is another technique that King employs to impactful and moving result. By the time we begin to experience Torie’s past and present, we now know enough about her and her place in the world to feel for her and with her.
By the end of the book, what we have is a beautifully mundane, beautifully unique story. We have two characters on whom we don’t want to turn the final page, two characters with whom we feel an empathy both in spite of and because of their flaws. And I am certain that this story would not be nearly as effective were it written in a straight chronological flow.
What I consider to be the ultimate judgement on a book is whether I would seek out more work by the author. And I can state unequivocally that I will be actively looking for my next book by Tabitha King.
I was soon reminded, however, that despite the fact that folk in other parts of the nation may perceive this corner of America to be a fairly homogenous region (the football team is, after all, not named for Boston, but instead is the New England Patriots), the locals most definitely do not consider themselves to be one big happy family. The setting of the book is a community in Maine known to residents as the Ridge, and King wryly captures the tone of self-righteous self identity common to New Englanders. Describing an event in the background of one of the characters, she says, “Of course that had not occurred on the Ridge but way to hell and gone in New Hampshire, twenty miles west.”
Instead and to my surprise, I found a connection to this story from my own time growing up in the Rocky Mountains of northwest Montana. The people may live nearly the width of a continent apart from each other, but it seems that rural small-town life in the Northwest is much like rural small-town life in the Northeast. There are the same young kids playing baseball in the summer, there are the same local guys manning the volunteer fire departments and there are the same seedy affairs and marital infidelities. My grandmother would often describe our town as “a regular little Peyton Place,” and I don’t think it is just by happenstance that King refers to that program when one of her characters is watching television one day in 1968. These little details helped me to build an emotional connection with the book.
And I suggest to those who are interested that it will help to find some way to connect with the story early on, because this is a book that requires some effort on the part of the reader. It flashes from the present to the past, back and forth. And not to the same time in the past— first to 1912, then to 1951, then to 1956. All in all, we visit more than a dozen different time periods in the lives of the main characters over the course of 270 pages. The reader must pay close attention to the names and dates in order to begin to make sense of the relationships between the characters, and even then, it takes a while to build up enough of a store of information to be able to understand what is taking place.
To be honest, I found this narrative a bit tiresome to begin with. But the further into the story I got, I came to realize the really outstanding craftsmanship that King put into this technique. We first meet the main character, Joe Nevers, as an old man, but then get glimpses of him as a boy, and as a young man. And although Tabitha King was herself only in her early thirties when this book was published in 1983, she has artfully captured and expressed the interior mindset of an older person. Someone who is old knows that they are old. But they also know themselves as they were when they were young. This is what is revealed by King’s non-linear temporal skips, and it proves to be beautifully effective.
The other main character is Torie Christopher, an old woman, though not so old as Nevers. In Part One, we grow to know her through Joe Nevers’ present and the flashes of his past. To know her, but perhaps not to understand her. Certainly not as Nevers understands her, even though it is through him that we experience her. It is not until Part Two that we begin to see the world from Torie’s viewpoint. This is another technique that King employs to impactful and moving result. By the time we begin to experience Torie’s past and present, we now know enough about her and her place in the world to feel for her and with her.
By the end of the book, what we have is a beautifully mundane, beautifully unique story. We have two characters on whom we don’t want to turn the final page, two characters with whom we feel an empathy both in spite of and because of their flaws. And I am certain that this story would not be nearly as effective were it written in a straight chronological flow.
What I consider to be the ultimate judgement on a book is whether I would seek out more work by the author. And I can state unequivocally that I will be actively looking for my next book by Tabitha King.
July 29, 2019
Will be sorry to reach last in this series. May decide to reread in correct order. These books should have received far more attention, IMO. I can't help wondering if they suffer a penalty because of the author being married to the king of horror. Yes, the association with him means that getting them published in the first place is easier but then a large proportion of readers approach with the expectation of getting their socks scared off, are pissed when that doesn't happen and stomp off grumbling. Had I created the Styles family my pride would be boundless. I hope the author knows that some of us get what she's done and are appreciative. This series is literature, not pop fiction, and should be read alongside books of consequence. I am not a literary scholar and cannot offer a review that will withstand academic scrutiny so will not embarrass myself in the attempt. I will remember these characters for a long while.
September 3, 2015
Joe Nevers a caretaker in a remote area of Maine, "The Ridge " . Joe had a caring spirit about him. Tori a widow and ill, depended on Joe. Joe had been married, now a widow too. Joe's wife had been jealous of the time Joe spent with Tori. The story takes on a deeper meaning as times and secrets were shared, keeping each other alive.
July 28, 2019
I *had* to read this, but was pleasantly surprised. This is my second Tabitha King book, and I really enjoyed both. The way the story is told is interesting - jumping back and forth from the past to present. Her use of language is just wonderful. And the story is intriguing - 2 people from very different walks of life that have come to the end. Definitely recommended.
June 3, 2018
While all these events sounds interesting on paper and make for great drama and gossip, I find the book to be excessively imaginative often describing irrelevant things or objects that I didn't need explained. I understand that writer's wish to give you the "feeling" of being actually there, but for me personally, I don't need an extensive description of what a snowy day look and feels like unless I have never seen snow. Also, there is a lot to the story like the husband who died that is not written about in detail. Not even the memory of the day he dies or how he dies is in the book. To be honest, I am not even sure what the husband died from or when. I just know he died.
In my opinion, with a little less random irrelevant descriptions and more information on the relationships between Torie, her husband, his death, her only living son and their domestic issues after the children's deaths it would have been a more interesting read and I could have finished reading this short story way sooner.
For my full review visit thereadinghouronline.blogspot.com
In my opinion, with a little less random irrelevant descriptions and more information on the relationships between Torie, her husband, his death, her only living son and their domestic issues after the children's deaths it would have been a more interesting read and I could have finished reading this short story way sooner.
For my full review visit thereadinghouronline.blogspot.com
March 16, 2025
This is a slow burn but the story plays out well. Joe Nevers is a hard working simple sort of man who’s lived a life that seems quiet but has had its share of troubles, struggles, love and loss. Torie Christopher is a bit of an outsider but her love and admiration for Nodd’s Ridge makes her an honorary resident. Their lives came together due to his role as caretaker for the home owned by Tories husband and his family.
The story jumps throughout the years so pay attention to the details. A fairly unexpected double twist near the end had me jumping back to check the years of a couple events.
Like I said it’s a slow burn, heavy on some details that may seem unneeded but it works. Joe Hill has a lot of similarities to Stephen Kings writing pattern and I feel Owen takes more after Tabitha. But all of them contribute to the literary form in a way that’s unique to them and enjoyable to the reader.
Joe Nevers and Torie are two very well built characters.
The story jumps throughout the years so pay attention to the details. A fairly unexpected double twist near the end had me jumping back to check the years of a couple events.
Like I said it’s a slow burn, heavy on some details that may seem unneeded but it works. Joe Hill has a lot of similarities to Stephen Kings writing pattern and I feel Owen takes more after Tabitha. But all of them contribute to the literary form in a way that’s unique to them and enjoyable to the reader.
Joe Nevers and Torie are two very well built characters.
December 19, 2020
I read this, because she´s Stephen King´s wife. I guess like everybody else.
Unfortunately this turned out not to be a lucky find. I did not make it past page 30. If you ask me what happened in those 30 pages, I have some difficulty remembering. Maybe I have Alzheimer´s but maybe it is because this book is incredibly boring. There´s this elderly man who drives a snow plow. There´s a drunk woman who drove her car into a ditch. Apart from these exciting plot points, there are just trivial episodes of everyday life. The style is also rather clunky. I needed several days to get to page 30 and it felt more like 300 pages.
Unfortunately this turned out not to be a lucky find. I did not make it past page 30. If you ask me what happened in those 30 pages, I have some difficulty remembering. Maybe I have Alzheimer´s but maybe it is because this book is incredibly boring. There´s this elderly man who drives a snow plow. There´s a drunk woman who drove her car into a ditch. Apart from these exciting plot points, there are just trivial episodes of everyday life. The style is also rather clunky. I needed several days to get to page 30 and it felt more like 300 pages.
August 14, 2011
I was so curious to read this knowing that she's married to Stephen King. What a household that must be! I think I expected to be disappointed but was really hoping it would be great--at least good. I thought it was ok. Just ok.
January 1, 2024
The story of a woman and the man who takes care of her beautiful small town Maine home, get stuck there, during a powerful Maine snowstorm. This tale surprised me!
Published and set in the early 1980's, these two very flawed people have known each other for over fifty years, but are starkly separated by social class. Their forced togetherness reveals past trauma, both collective and separate, and I was fascinated.
Published and set in the early 1980's, these two very flawed people have known each other for over fifty years, but are starkly separated by social class. Their forced togetherness reveals past trauma, both collective and separate, and I was fascinated.
April 20, 2025
WOW, I have loved Stephen King Books and Films for all my life and shocked at myself as I only found out his wife had wrote books as well - this is my 1st book of Tabitha King's and OMG what a page turner of a story! Amazing old fashioned storyline that keeps you wanting to read more to find out what will happen. Jump to and from past and present was amazing to sink you into the lives of the characters of the book. I will definitely be reading all Tabitha King's books!
September 16, 2025
Nichts Unheimliches an diesem Buch, wenn man von der unheimlich schlechten Übersetzung absieht (Herr Crass, "stuffed animals" in einem Kinderzimmer sind keine "ausgestopften Tiere"!!!!).
Kann man Englisch, so kann man während des Lesens rückübersetzen und dadurch immerhin wenigstens erahnen, wie gut dieses Buch erst im Original gewesen sein muss (welches aufzutreiben hierzulande unmöglich erscheint). Sogar derart durch die Übersetzungsfaschiermaschine gedreht ist es mir noch 5 Sterne wert.
Kann man Englisch, so kann man während des Lesens rückübersetzen und dadurch immerhin wenigstens erahnen, wie gut dieses Buch erst im Original gewesen sein muss (welches aufzutreiben hierzulande unmöglich erscheint). Sogar derart durch die Übersetzungsfaschiermaschine gedreht ist es mir noch 5 Sterne wert.
September 8, 2025
This is a beautiful, heartbreaking story about an unconventional woman from Maine’s upper crust and the down to earth, working-class caretaker inextricably woven into her life. Tabitha King is an exceptional novelist, a master of rich character studies. I only wish she were as prolific a writer as her husband so there would be more of her work to read.
May 30, 2017
This was a great story about human nature.It took me awhile to get into it but once I did I really enjoyed it.
July 31, 2018
Interesting exploration of a small Maine town
July 17, 2019
Loved this book.
May 6, 2025
Found a nice old paperback copy of this at Goodwill a good few years ago, obvs I just had to get it! Then I went and stuck it in a box somewhere, forgot I had it, and then here just recently I went and got me a nice hardcover copy. Whoops, now I've got two copies. Oh well. Going to read it now before this one gets put somewhere and forgotten about too... xD
Oh man. How to rate this book!? Like... it was good, quite interesting, and for sure kept me eager to turn the pages, but at the same time, both of the main characters were... difficult people, lol. I'm definitely feeling a solid 3.5 Stars but do I click the 3, or the 4 stars here!? Well, fuck it, this is Aunt Tabby, after all, and even if the characters were people I didn't necessarily fully adore as people, the writing was immaculate, and they were definitely very well-done, fully realistic and fleshed-out people, full of flaws and all. Could be any real person in the world, bad behaviours, dumb decisions, and glimpses of beauty and goodness in between, like every one of us here. So, bam, I'ma go 'head and click that 4 stars ;)
I'm definitely loving the small town vibe of the Ridge. In fact, I'm going to continue getting to know this town and its people by reading all the other books set here straight up nothing but for the next few on the TBR. I don't want to leave this place, and I love how real the town and its citizens felt. The main line of the story, the 1982 in the snow, didn't show a whole lot of the town, with the exception of the opening scene, but hot damn, the multitude of various flashback bits sure did! Total small, insular Northeastern town, families and people tied by history and time and hometown pride, and heaven forbid you try to come and fit in as an outsider! You will never be one of them, and they make sure you know it, lol.
Onto the main bit of the review, like I said, I kind of liked the characters, but... they were like family members that you know every time you hang out with them that they're not going to behave the way you think they should, or would want them to, and definitely don't behave how you yourself would. Torie was contrary, quite 'grumpy' or irritating at times, just because she could, because she felt like it in the moment. As her past is explored more, I kind of got to understand her better, how, because she was a woman of her times, having her independence, and doing what she wanted instead of what her parents or husband or society wanted, was a constant battle, so I felt for her more as the story went on. Joe... well... he was definitely a man of his time too. And, at times, that included uncomfortable and downright atrocious behaviour. I was not really shocked or surprised though, because the way he was portrayed was really not at all any different than stories I've heard of my own now-quite-elderly male relatives, and in-laws, and acquaintances, and how they all were back in those days when what the husband said was law, and the whole big-man in charge, lil wifey best just hush up and roll with it, else risk a bruised face or worse. It's shit, and it for sure happened entirely too often back in the days, but I felt like it was pretty damn realistic for people who are in a story taking place in those times. This isn't a HEA, neat, sweet, lil romance story after all, but a peek into a place and time and the people thereof.
As far as action in this story, well, damn, a lot happens, all throughout! Shit happens in the early 1900s, and a lot happens in the mid-century decades, and then the overarching, everything coming together parts in 1982. Tragedy, brief moments of fleeting happiness, and connection, more tragedy, plenty of people just being normal, imperfect people, lil sprinkles of love and sweetness, pain, embarrassment, anger, revenge, all of it. This story was just... well, just like real life.
Anywho, I've tipsily rambled for far too long, dropped my whole-ass thread of other stuff I wanted to mention, and also I just really want to hurry back to the Ridge for some more hot goss' and small town shenanigans, so I'm gonna shut my mouth and leave it at that. The novel 'Pearl' is up next for me! Let's gooooo!
Oh man. How to rate this book!? Like... it was good, quite interesting, and for sure kept me eager to turn the pages, but at the same time, both of the main characters were... difficult people, lol. I'm definitely feeling a solid 3.5 Stars but do I click the 3, or the 4 stars here!? Well, fuck it, this is Aunt Tabby, after all, and even if the characters were people I didn't necessarily fully adore as people, the writing was immaculate, and they were definitely very well-done, fully realistic and fleshed-out people, full of flaws and all. Could be any real person in the world, bad behaviours, dumb decisions, and glimpses of beauty and goodness in between, like every one of us here. So, bam, I'ma go 'head and click that 4 stars ;)
I'm definitely loving the small town vibe of the Ridge. In fact, I'm going to continue getting to know this town and its people by reading all the other books set here straight up nothing but for the next few on the TBR. I don't want to leave this place, and I love how real the town and its citizens felt. The main line of the story, the 1982 in the snow, didn't show a whole lot of the town, with the exception of the opening scene, but hot damn, the multitude of various flashback bits sure did! Total small, insular Northeastern town, families and people tied by history and time and hometown pride, and heaven forbid you try to come and fit in as an outsider! You will never be one of them, and they make sure you know it, lol.
Onto the main bit of the review, like I said, I kind of liked the characters, but... they were like family members that you know every time you hang out with them that they're not going to behave the way you think they should, or would want them to, and definitely don't behave how you yourself would. Torie was contrary, quite 'grumpy' or irritating at times, just because she could, because she felt like it in the moment. As her past is explored more, I kind of got to understand her better, how, because she was a woman of her times, having her independence, and doing what she wanted instead of what her parents or husband or society wanted, was a constant battle, so I felt for her more as the story went on. Joe... well... he was definitely a man of his time too. And, at times, that included uncomfortable and downright atrocious behaviour. I was not really shocked or surprised though, because the way he was portrayed was really not at all any different than stories I've heard of my own now-quite-elderly male relatives, and in-laws, and acquaintances, and how they all were back in those days when what the husband said was law, and the whole big-man in charge, lil wifey best just hush up and roll with it, else risk a bruised face or worse. It's shit, and it for sure happened entirely too often back in the days, but I felt like it was pretty damn realistic for people who are in a story taking place in those times. This isn't a HEA, neat, sweet, lil romance story after all, but a peek into a place and time and the people thereof.
As far as action in this story, well, damn, a lot happens, all throughout! Shit happens in the early 1900s, and a lot happens in the mid-century decades, and then the overarching, everything coming together parts in 1982. Tragedy, brief moments of fleeting happiness, and connection, more tragedy, plenty of people just being normal, imperfect people, lil sprinkles of love and sweetness, pain, embarrassment, anger, revenge, all of it. This story was just... well, just like real life.
Anywho, I've tipsily rambled for far too long, dropped my whole-ass thread of other stuff I wanted to mention, and also I just really want to hurry back to the Ridge for some more hot goss' and small town shenanigans, so I'm gonna shut my mouth and leave it at that. The novel 'Pearl' is up next for me! Let's gooooo!
January 5, 2025
I was left a bit on the fence with my first Tabitha King read (The Trap). I believed I could see the hints of a great writer there, but that story was a bit too ridiculous, the humans weren’t really humaning particularly well and I was left unable to entirely suspend my disbelief. Now, that was then and it’s a new read (for me). So, how does this one compare? I actually loved this story. Seemlessly jumping between a multitude of different points of time in the lives of Torie and her caretaker (both flawed but endearing characters), I couldn’t help but grow emotionally invested in them. This read broke my heart a little. I’m also pleased to be able to add another book into the category of those where elderly characters shine.
It falls squarely within a slow burn of a read, but the payout is worth it as the mysteries interspersed in these people’s lives are revealed. This is one story I’ll remember fondly.
It falls squarely within a slow burn of a read, but the payout is worth it as the mysteries interspersed in these people’s lives are revealed. This is one story I’ll remember fondly.
November 5, 2009
I liked the main character and the relationships surrounding (caretaker for a local family). His story revolves around them, as one might expect. The story kind of dragged on to me. Maybe I'll re-read again another day, anything is possible. But for the moment, I like her husband's books better. ;)
Read
September 11, 2008F Kin
Want to read
August 25, 2009Wife of Stephen King
Want to read
July 17, 2011Stephen King's wife.
Read
September 4, 2012you can tell she has lived with stephen king lol
April 5, 2013
Loved it!
January 11, 2011
really good charactorization of two old lovers and their lives
June 28, 2011
This is one of my all time favorite books. The ending kills me every time.
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