Dolores is a tough and gritty woman and much of the story recounts her dealing with the stern and often cruel woman that she works for during a thirty plus year time span, her abusive husband and the towns rumors that she might be a murderer. After reading "On Writing" my first King book, I thought I'd try something else and this was a good place to start. I wasn't interested in reading King in the past because I once picked up "Cujo" and happened to turn to a page that was filled with gross descriptions of violence. But since I enjoyed the movie adaptation of this book as well as several others King has written, I thought it was time to put aside my previous concerns and read one of his novels. I guess if your looking for horror, blood, and the supernatural this book probably won't be as enjoyable as you'd hoped, but it is an engaging story and the main character is likable. I was rooting for Dolores almost from the start. I doubt many King fans would need to bother reading a review like this, so if you got this far and are wondering if you should give one of his books a try for the first time, I recommend this novel as a good place to start.