Gwendy's Button Box
Published: 16, May 2017
Author: Stephen King & Richard Chizmar
Genre: American, Fiction, Horror, Literature, Magic, Mystery, Occult, Supernatural, Suspense, Thriller
Book 1 of 3: Gwendy's Button Box Trilogy
Check out the review of this book here:
Summary
The narrative takes place in Castle Rock, Maine, and is centered on a young woman called Gwendy Peterson.
The plot starts in 1974. Gwendy begins exercising at the age of twelve, during the summer before she begins Middle School, in an attempt to reduce weight in order to shed her moniker "Goodyear" (after the Goodyear Blimp). She runs up and down the Suicide Stairs on a hill every day.
When she reaches the top one day, she is greeted by a guy dressed entirely in black. The man who introduces himself as Richard Farris and asks her to a palaver.
He presents her with a little mahogany box that has eight buttons on top and two levers on the sides. North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia are represented by six buttons.
The other two, a red and a black one, have no specified destination, but Gwendy is warned that the black one is the most hazardous and that the red one is the only one she may use again.
Pulling the levers causes the box to spew out miniature, mystical chocolate things, and mint-condition silver dollars. Farris vanishes after their conversation, but Gwendy has many nightmares about his black hat.
Gwendy keeps the box hidden from everyone in the years that follow. Her life improves dramatically as a result of the chocolates; she loses weight, her eyesight improves to the point that she no longer needs glasses, and she eventually matures into a stunning adolescent.
She also achieves an A+ in school and excels in sports. Her parents, whose marriage was on the verge of disintegration, both stop drinking and rediscover their love for one another.
The silver dollars guarantee that she would be able to pay for her college degree. But the box's secret weighs on Gwendy, and her good fortune finally drives a schism between her and her best friend Olive.
One day, she can't resist the impulse anymore and presses the red button, focusing on the South American country of Guyana to attempt to limit the damage. This precipitates a terrible occurrence in which a cult leader called Jim Jones commits suicide, inspiring 900 of his followers to follow suit. Among the dead are a number of youngsters and newborns.
Olive commits suicide at the age of 17 by jumping down the Suicide steps. Gwendy, torn by sadness, presses the red button once again, destroying the steps and a portion of the cliff.
She is hardly able to attend Olive's burial, but she goes about her business as best she can. She meets and falls in love with a man named Harry Streeter.
She gradually becomes bored of the box and her reliance on it. She quits using the magical chocolates, despite the fact that it causes her to gain a few pounds and her grades to fall significantly, and attempts to forget about the box entirely.
As graduation approaches, Gwendy is assaulted in her room by Frankie, a boy whose advances she had turned down.
He discovered the button box as well as the silver dollars. Harry tries to protect Gwendy but is killed when Frankie smashes him with the box.
Frankie then uses a knife to assault Gwendy. She gets wounded in the foot, but she manages to grab the box and activate the red button to kill Frankie.
Gwendy loses a portion of her foot as a result of Frankie's attack, but she otherwise survives.
She leaves for college, bringing the box with her. She still eats the chocolates on occasion and uses the silver dollars to pay for her schooling. She decides to pursue her dream of becoming a writer.
Then, ten years after receiving the package from him, Gwendy runs across Richard Farris again.
He compliments her for taking good care of the box. Gwendy ultimately discloses, at his request, what happened the night she used the box against Frankie; he literally withered away from the instant she pressed the button.
She then made his body vanish so no one would ever suspect her of murder. Farris, in turn, soothes Gwendy by telling her that the Jonestown tragedy and Olive's death were not her faults and that her decision not to use the box saved numerous lives.
He retrieves the package and vanishes into the darkness. Gwendy stays behind with one last silver dollar and Farris' promise of becoming a renowned author.
Useful Search Related Words & Keywords
Castle Rock, Cemetery Dance, Gwendy S Button, Highly Recommend, Man In Black, Quick Read, Really Enjoyed, Short Story, Suicide Stairs, Well Written
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