DUMA KEY is the engaging, fascinating story of a man who discovers an incredible talent for painting after a freak accident in which he loses an arm. He moves to a 'new life' in Duma Key, off Florida's West Coast; a deserted strip, part beach, part weed-tangled, owned by a patroness of the arts whose twin sisters went missing in the 1920s. Duma Key is where out-of-season hurricanes tears lives apart and a powerful undertow lures lost and tormented souls. Here Freemantle is inspired to paint the amazing sunsets. But soon the paintings become predictive, even dangerous. Freemantle knows the only way forward is to discover what happened to the twin sisters -- and what is the secret of the strange old lady who holds the key? The story is about friendship, about the bond between a father and his daughter. And about memory, truth and art. It is also is a metaphor for the life and inspiration of a writer, and an exploration of the nature, power and influence of fiction.
Yeah, right. Thanks a million.
How can any review top that? Good question. I'm not going to say much, but I'm sure I'll read this again at some point. This is one of those Stephen Kings books that tips over into the literary – although I wouldn't read it before bedtime. I get spooked by King ...
He has completely ruined rural America for me. I would never dare drive a car there, alone after sundown. And now he's more or less ruined the idea of Florida as well. God knows what lurks in the waters outside the beaches ...
After reading a book like this, I loose some confidence in my own writing. It passes, but still. It's tempting to pull a «Misery» on him ...
A quote:
Don't quit until det picture's complete. I can't tell you that's the cardinal rule of art or not, I'm no teacher, but I believe those six words sum up all I've been trying to tell you. Talent is a wonderful thing, but it won't carry a quitter. An there always comes a time - if the work is sincere, if it comes from that magic place where thoughtt, memory, and emotion all merge - when you will want to quit, when you will think that if you put your pencil down your eye will dull, your memory will lapse, and the pain will end. I know all this from the last picture I drew that day - the one of the gathering on the beach. It was only a sketch, but I think that when you're mapping hell, a sketch is all you need.
Not literary, my ass ...
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