Gwendy's Button Box

April 17, 2017
This absorbing novella by horror giants King (End of Watch) and Chizmar (A Long December) revisits one of King’s most popular locales. It’s 1974 when 12-year-old Gwendy Peterson is offered a magic box by a man named Richard Farris, whom she meets at the top of one of the cliffside Suicide Stairs in Castle Rock, Maine. Farris wears a “small neat black hat” and seems to know just who Gwendy is and what she wants. Eight buttons grace the mahogany box he offers to Gwendy, and a lever dispenses silver dollars and intricate chocolates that Farris claims will help Gwendy lose weight and escape being called “Goodyear” by her classmates. Lose weight she does, but that’s not all. Wonderful things keep happening in Gwendy’s life, and she’s happier than she’s ever been. But when she decides to press one of the buttons, the consequences are horrendous. The novella follows Gwendy through high school and beyond, capturing the golden-hued joy of childhood and the wonder of friendship and first love, all under the shadow of temptation. This bite-size gem of a story packs quite a punch, and the only complaint readers will likely have is that it isn’t longer.

Listeners are introduced to 12-year-old Gwendy Peterson atop a cliffside stairway to Castle View, a park in the town of Castle Rock, Maine. There Gwendy meets Richard Farris, a strange man who knows just a little too much about her, and receives a gift that for a decade brings her good fortune and unthinkable terror. Maggie Siff narrates with touches of nostalgia, wonder, and insecurity that beautifully capture Gwendy's adolescence. Though the horror elements are effective, it's Gwendy's coming-of-age that truly resonates. Siff characterizes Farris as blandly likable but with intangible menace--listeners, like Gwendy, will be both wary and intrigued. In the bonus short story, "The Music Room," Siff's highfalutin accents perfectly complement the story's mix of black humor and wickedness. A.T.N. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

June 26, 2017
Actor Siff adds dramatic flair to her reading of this supernatural coming-of-age novella set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine. It’s summer of 1974 when 12-year-old Gwendy Peterson is approached by the mysterious man named Richard Farris. He presents her with a beautiful mahogany box that can magically dispense small but delectable chocolate candies as well as rare 1891 Morgan silver dollars, worth hundreds of dollars. Farris assures her that the box and all its treasures are hers to keep, but as the story progress she learns that stewardship of the box comes with a heavy, possibly cataclysmic, responsibility. Siff captures the innocence of the young girl met at the beginning of the story and the more mature and worldly young woman at the end. Secondary characters are diverse and well rendered, each given unique voices of their own. But Siff shines with her portrayal of the enigmatic Mr. Farris, whose croaky voice steals every scene he’s in. A Cemetery Dance hardcover.