The Gingerbread Girl

Stephen King’s short story, The Gingerbread Girl, appeared in Esquire magazine in July 2007 and was published this year as one of the stories in King’s Just After Sunset collection. It has also been released as a standalone two-disc, roughly two-hour, audio book narrated by Mare Winningham, the version of the story that I recently experienced.

Emily, a young woman whose marriage has begun to fall apart after the crib death of her only baby, is the “Gingerbread Girl” of the book’s title. Searching for a way to maintain her sanity after the tragic loss of her child, she soon becomes obsessed with her daily runs, extends them to longer and longer distances and, in the process, convinces her husband that she has become mentally show more unstable. When a minor spat with her husband suddenly flares into something more serious, Emily hits the door and literally runs right out of her husband’s life.

Taking a page from the fairy tale Gingerbread Man’s book (“Run, run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man.”), Emily depends on her legs to outrun her troubles and conflicts. She will soon learn, however, that running in the wrong direction can be more dangerous than not running at all.

Emily retreats to her father’s little beach house on Florida’s remote Vermillion Key where she is content in her aloneness and continues to add to the mileage she is capable of running. All goes well and one day she is surprised to find herself ready to invite her father to join her in the Keys for a few days. But then, despite having been warned by her only friend on the island that one of the wealthy homeowners has arrived with another of his “nieces” and that she should avoid the man, Emily lets curiosity get the best of her and practically runs into the arms of a serial killer.

At this point, The Gingerbread Girl can only hope that her legs will be able to save her from becoming the killer’s next victim. Since she is trapped on a very small island, that might not be as easy as it sounds even for a trained runner like Emily.

Mare Winningham’s presentation helps make Emily into a comfortably believable character, a woman suffering terribly and unable to express that pain to anyone who might be able to help her grieve. She is by far the most complete character in the story, especially when contrasted with the man chasing her, a character that remains a stereotypical villain to the end. It could be that the limitations of the short story format kept King from more fully developing his killer, but that failure kept me from reaching the tension level that I have come to expect from a Stephen King thriller. I suspect that this one would have made a better novel than short story.

Rated at 2.5 show less

Honestly, I didn't think I'd like this as much as I did. I'm not a big fan of short stories, but I thought I'd give it a try because it's on disc, and I really liked it. Winningham does an excellent job of reading. A reader can either make or break a story, and Winningham makes this story.

A woman takes up running after her baby dies. It's the only way she can deal with the loss. Each day she runs a bit more. Mile after mile. She then goes to her father's vacation cottage, and takes up running there. Just one problem, when she goes to her father's vacation cottage, she runs right into a serial killer. That's pretty much all I want to say on the plot. This was such a good read, you'll be hooked right off the bat.

The story itself was show more pretty good, but Winningham does such a good job as the reader, I highly suggest you go to your local library and check out the audio version of The Gingerbread Girl. show less

Audio book. Even though it's short, it packs a punch. I can't even imagine what she went through, the fight for her life. I loved the parts about running and how she'd trained for it. Shocking, easy to read and pulled me in as soon as I started. I loved this one!

I enjoyed this book very much, though it was not so much the horror book that I expected as it was a psychological thriller. I immediately thought of Duma Key when Em left to stay at Vermillion Key so she could spend some time alone. (And didn't the main character in Duma Key also run?) I have hoped for a while that some of Stephen King's "audio only" books would come out in print, but I finally broke down and started looking for the audio books. This was a nice way to pass a few hours of driving time.

It followed the typical formula of a hostage-taking nut-case killer. This type of story can be thrilling when well constructed and has a few plot twists; GingerB G does not have any surprise plot twists.

Em takes up running after the loss of her child and as a way to escape from the growing emptiness in her marriage. She separates from her husband to spend some alone time reflecting on things on a remote key in Florida. While there she sees something she shouldn't and is forced to basically run for her life! I love how King portrays the villain...the things he say indicate the mind of a true mad man. The ending is quite fitting...this was a quick 2 hour 'listen' that kept my attention. Would recommend for those who want a quick fix of King-style suspense.

I really loved this story. It had fantastic momentum and vivid imagery. Had to stop and share with my husband a couple times. I only do this when I really like a book. I hope to re-read this one day.