Duma Key

From the edges:

NOTHING BUT A BLACK PENSIL LINE ON A WHITE PAGE. Perhaps a horizontal line, but also room for darkness to seep through...

Edgar Freemantle suffers a horrific accident on a construction site that amputates his right arm, jumbles his memory, and leaves him only angry as he starts the difficult process of recovering. A marriage that gave birth to two beautiful girls ends abruptly, and Edgar starts to regret not dying from his injuries. He's ready to go. Dr. Kamen, his psychologist, recommends a "geographic cure," which would include moving away from the Twin Cities and starting again in the construction industry as Edgar did. Kamen also has another suggestion.

"Edgar does anything make you happy?"

"I used to sketch."

"Resume working on it. Hedges are necessary...

bushes to block the darkness."

Edgar moves from Minnesota to a rental home on the breathtakingly gorgeous but eerily uninhabited Florida coast's Duma Key. Edgar is drawn to the sound of the tidal rattling of shells on the beach and the setting sun on the Gulf of Mexico. His escape from isolation is sparked by a visit from his adoring daughter Ilse. Next, he meets Elizabeth Eastlake, an ailing elderly lady whose origins are deeply entwined with Duma Key, and Wireman, a man afraid to disclose his own traumas. Edgar's painting is now both a marvel and a weapon, often executed with a furious intensity. There is an uncontrollable power to many of his works. The devastation that the apparitions of Elizabeth's early years are capable of causing is immense, as her history comes to light.

Stephen King writes a story that is both interesting and frightening, exploring themes such as the nature of the supernatural, the hazards of creation, the secrets of memory, and the persistence of love.