桃乐丝的秘密 (1992)

《惊鸟》（英语：Dolores Claiborne）是1992年由斯蒂芬·金所著的惊悚小说。也是1992年美国的畅销小说，惊鸟不是使用斯蒂芬·金平时惯用的写作风格，在各段落之间并没有章节。而在书中完全是以桃乐丝的观点，用一种独白的方式来告诉我们她的一生。

繁体中文版由新雨出版社于2002年出版。

剧情大纲

故事是从桃乐丝·克莱彭接受警方的侦询开始，桃乐丝在故事的一开始了变直接告诉警方，她没有杀掉她有钱的雇主薇拉·唐纳文。然而桃乐丝却道出，她在三十年前杀掉了她的丈夫乔·圣乔治。桃乐丝接着便以“自白”的方式陈述她的一生，从他与雇主的关系，至她的婚姻问题。

斯蒂芬·金大多数的作品较着重于超自然与惊悚，但这部作品的核心则是在心灵。

连结到斯蒂芬·金的相关著作

本书的虚构地点小高岛，也是1999年的电视电影《史蒂芬金之世纪风暴》（金负责编剧）的背景地点。电影中，桃乐斯在一次对话中被提及。

斯蒂芬·金的短篇小说《待产》（收录于小说集《恶梦工厂》）的故事背景也设在小高岛。

故事中提到耶路撒冷镇，是长篇小说《撒冷镇》，和短篇小说《耶路撒冷镇》（又译《耶路撒冷镇的罗德》、《耶路撒冷之签》）和《岔路》的故事背景。

故事中多次提到萧山克监狱，《丽塔海华丝与萧山克监狱的救赎》中的监狱。

电影改编

惊鸟在1995年被改编成电影，由凯西·贝兹(Kathy Bates)、珍妮佛·杰森·李(Jennifer Jason Leigh)、克里斯多福·普卢默(Christopher Plummer)、大卫·史崔森(David Strathairn )和约翰·C·雷利(John C. Reilly)主演，导演由泰勒·哈克佛德(Taylor Hackford)担任。

Dolores Claiborne is a 1992 psychological thriller by Stephen King. The novel is narrated by the titular character, and introduces the fictional community of Little Tall Island, which Stephen King later used as the setting for the original TV mini-series Storm of the Century. It was the best-selling novel of 1992 in the United States.

The novel led to a 1995 movie adaptation starring Kathy Bates that Time named among the top 10 greatest Stephen King film adaptations in 2013. A two-act opera adaptation premiered in San Francisco in 2013.

Plot summary

Dolores Claiborne, a 65-year-old widow living in the tiny Maine community of Little Tall Island, is suspected of murdering her wealthy, elderly employer, Vera Donovan. Dolores wants to make clear to the police that she did not kill Vera, whom she had looked after for years, but does confess to orchestrating the death of her husband, Joe St. George, almost 30 years previously. Dolores's confession develops into the story of her life, her troubled marriage, and her relationship with her employer.

Dolores describes the arrival of Vera and her millionaire husband, who have bought a summer home on Little Tall Island in 1949. Able to cope with Vera's standards, Dolores takes a job as a maid, then becomes housekeeper at the Donovan home. After Vera's husband dies in a car crash in 1960, she spends increasing time at her island house, eventually moving there permanently. Vera suffers a series of strokes in the 1980s, whereupon Dolores becomes the woman's live-in caretaker and reluctant companion. As Vera slips into dementia, she experiences terrifying hallucinations. When lucid, she subjects Dolores to mind games and power plays.

Dolores reveals that when she began working at the Donovan house, her marriage to Joe was already strained due to his alcoholism and abuse. Their children, Selena, Joe Jr., and Pete, are all unaware. The marriage problems escalate one night in 1960 when Joe viciously hits Dolores in the back over a perceived slight. In retaliation, Dolores smashes a ceramic jug over his head and threatens him with a hatchet, swearing she will kill him if he ever strikes her again. This confrontation is witnessed by Selena. Joe stops beating Dolores, but Selena does not realize that Dolores was acting in self-defense, and Joe uses the incident to gain her sympathy. A rift grows between mother and daughter.

In 1962, Dolores notices Selena becoming increasingly withdrawn. After some speculation, Dolores finally confronts her daughter. She explains the truth, and Selena reluctantly admits that Joe molested her. Dolores vows to protect her. She confronts him, promising to have him arrested if he ever touches Selena again.

Dolores resolves to leave Joe, but when she attempts to withdraw her savings to escape, she discovers Joe has stolen everything. In despair, she confides in Vera. An unusually sympathetic Vera casually remarks that men like Joe often die in accidents, leaving their wives everything. She implies that she arranged the car crash that killed her husband.

Dolores begins plotting Joe's death, but she does not find an opportunity to execute her plan until the following summer. Vera becomes obsessed with a total solar eclipse visible from the island, believing it will convince her estranged children to visit her. She plans a massive viewing party on the island ferry. Seeing the distraction as an opportunity, Dolores sends Selena to camp, and Joe Jr. and Pete are sent to visit family on the mainland. Dolores marks the location of a dried-up well. When it becomes clear her children will not visit, Vera lashes out at her hired help, calming only after Dolores confronts her over the unjust firing of one of the maids.