Whether Stephen King is writing horror or fantasy, novels or short stories, one thing remains constant: expert world-building that places readers firmly in the time and place in which his works are set. From the vampire-infested small town of Jersualem’s Lot, Maine, to the proto-multiverse of his Dark Tower saga, Mr. King has always excelled at sketching in the little details that bring settings to life. In his latest, “Fairy Tale,” the author continues to display his talent for transporting readers to places both known and unknown, creating an immersive tale with an optimistic heart.
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That heart comes courtesy of the book’s narrator, Charlie Reade, who introduces himself by recounting his mother’s accidental death when he was a child, and his father’s subsequent descent into alcoholism. Desperate to save his father, Charlie prays for a miracle and vows to repay the favor; when his father finally stops drinking, he sees it as evidence that his prayers were answered.
Five years pass, and Charlie, now seventeen, is still ready to pay his existential debt. He gets his chance when he happens upon his reclusive, elderly neighbor, Mr. Bowditch, who has suffered a terrible injury in his overgrown and foreboding yard. As the cranky senior recovers in the hospital, Charlie takes care of both Mr. Bowditch’s dilapidated house and his arthritic dog, while patiently thawing out the man himself.
However, there’s more to Mr. Bowditch than meets the eye. There’s the mysterious gold pellets he uses to pay his hospital bills, for one, and the fact that Charlie and his father can’t seem to find any kind of paper trail in his name. But even those puzzles pale in comparison to the enigma of Mr. Bowditch’s padlocked shed—and the sinister thumping and scratching Charlie can hear inside. As Charlie looks for answers, he is drawn into a fantastical journey that will test his resolve, his courage, and his ability to believe the unbelievable.
What follows is a sweeping tale that pays homage to the simple stories so many of us grow up hearing, from “Little Red Riding Hood” to “Rumplestiltskin.” Charlie is a charming protagonist, and his encounters with the extraordinary are brought to life by Mr. King’s ability to marry the strange with the mundane, depicted through the eyes of a teenager who is just as confounded by the strangeness of his story as the reader is.
“Fairy Tale” will feel familiar to fans of the author’s Dark Tower universe: much like some of the beloved characters from that series, Charlie is a stranger in a stranger land. The first-person narration, however, makes “Fairy Tale” a much warmer book, as Charlie wrestles with the unbelievable while also figuring out what it means to be brave, even in the face of terror. Of course, there are some of Mr. King’s trademark touches of the macabre, and the more horrifying villains are depicted so vividly that it’s easy to forget that those same horrors aren’t his inventions at all, but rather those of the Brothers Grimm.
This isn’t to say that the novel is perfect; as ever, it could use some editing—the story doesn’t really start chugging along until about 200 pages in, which will be kryptonite to anyone who wants to get straight to the action. For anyone willing to make the journey, however, once the second act kicks in, it doesn’t slow down until the somewhat inevitable, yet heart-warming ending.
Early in the book, Charlie says “This is a pretty good world, all evidence to the contrary not withstanding,” and this tender optimism is the beating heart of “Fairy Tale.” Coupled with some of the best monsters Mr. King has detailed in years and the vivid evocation of a wondrous world, it’s a pleasant way to spend some time away from a world that can often feel determined to crush even the sunniest of outlooks.
Wendeline O. Wright has been a member of the National Book Critics’ Circle since 2017.
First Published: September 4, 2022, 7:11 p.m.