History Literature / DoloresClaiborne

Presented as a [[ScrapbookStory text transcription]] of a voice recording by the police, the story introduces Dolores Claiborne (née St. George), an elderly maid from Little Tall Island off the coast of Maine, who has been caring for her wealthy employer Vera Donovan for many years. Vera suddenly dies under suspicious circumstances, and Dolores – who had also been suspected of murdering her husband Joe many years before – is caught standing over the body clutching a rolling pin. The novel begins as Dolores has voluntarily gone down to the police station in order to make a statement concerning her role in both deaths.

Presented as a [[ScrapbookStory text transcription]] of a voice recording by the police, the story introduces Dolores Claiborne (née St. George), an elderly maid from Little Tall Island off the coast of Maine, who has been caring for her wealthy employer Vera Donovan for many years. Vera suddenly dies under suspicious circumstances, and Dolores – who had also been suspected of murdering her husband Joe many years before – is caught standing over the body clutching a rolling pin. The novel begins as Dolores has voluntarily gone down to the police station in order to confess all about her role in both deaths.

Presented as a [[ScrapbookStory text transcription]] of a voice recording by the police, the story introduces Dolores Claiborne (née St. George), an elderly maid from Little Tall Island off the coast of Maine, who has been caring for her wealthy employer Vera Donovan for many years. Vera suddenly dies under suspicious circumstances, and Dolores – who had also been suspected of killing her husband Joe many years before – is suspected of being responsible after she's discovered standing over the body clutching a rolling pin. The novel begins as she voluntarily goes down to the police station in order to confess all about her role in both deaths.

Presented as a [[ScrapbookStory text transcription]] of a voice recording by the police, the story introduces Dolores Claiborne (née St. George), an elderly maid from Little Tall Island off the coast of Maine. She has been caring for her employer Vera Donovan for many years. Vera dies under suspicious circumstances, implicating Dolores, who had also been suspected of killing her husband Joe many years before. The novel begins as she voluntarily goes down to the police station in order to confess all about her role in both deaths.

Presented as a [[ScrapbookStory text transcription]] of a voice recording by the police, the story introduces Dolores Claiborne, formerly St. George, an elderly maid from Little Tall Island, off the coast of Maine. She has been caring for her employer Vera Donovan for many years. Vera dies under suspicious circumstances, implicating Dolores, who had also been suspected of killing her husband Joe many years before. The novel begins as she voluntarily goes down to the police station in order to confess all about her role in both deaths.

King wrote the novel with Creator/KathyBates – whom he'd met on the set of ''Film/{{Misery}}'' and was greatly impressed by – in mind for the role of Dolores in [[FilmOfTheBook the inevitable film version]]. Sure enough, Bates starred in Creator/TaylorHackford's 1995 film alongside Judy Parfitt as Vera, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh as Selena and Creator/ChristopherPlummer as (unique to the film character) Detective John Mackey, and also features memorable appearances by Creator/JohnCReilly, Creator/BobGunton and Creator/DavidStrathairn. The film is often cited as one of the more underrated King adaptations, but has been somewhat obscured by the fact that it followed the release of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' and appeared amid a flurry of other memorable (if often of low or questionable quality) film and television adaptations of King's work.

King wrote the novel with Creator/KathyBates – whom he'd met on the set of ''Film/{{Misery}}'' and was greatly impressed by – in mind for the role of Dolores in [[FilmOfTheBook the inevitable film version]]. Sure enough, Bates starred in Creator/TaylorHackford's 1995 film alongside Judy Parfitt as Vera, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh as Selena and Creator/ChristopherPlummer as (unique to the film character) Detective John Mackey, and also features memorable appearances by Creator/JohnCReilly, Creator/BobGunton and Creator/DavidStrathairn. The film is often cited as one of the more underrated King adaptations, but has been somewhat obscured by the fact that it followed the release of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' and appeared amid a flurry of memorable (if often of low or questionable quality) screen adaptations of King's work.

King wrote the novel with Creator/KathyBates – whom he'd met on the set of ''Film/{{Misery}}'' and was greatly impressed by – in mind for the role of Dolores in [[FilmOfTheBook the inevitable film version]]. Sure enough, Bates starred in Creator/TaylorHackford's 1995 film alongside Judy Parfitt as Vera, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh as Selena and Creator/ChristopherPlummer as (unique to the film character) Detective John Mackey, and also features memorable appearances by Creator/JohnCReilly, Creator/BobGunton and Creator/DavidStrathairn. The film is often cited as one of the more underrated King adaptations, but is somewhat obscured by the fact that it followed the release of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' and appeared amid a flurry of memorable (if often of low or questionable quality) screen adaptations of King's work.

King wrote the novel with Creator/KathyBates – whom he'd met on the set of ''Film/{{Misery}}'' and was greatly impressed by – in mind for the role of Dolores in [[FilmOfTheBook the inevitable film version]]. Sure enough, Bates starred in Creator/TaylorHackford's 1995 film alongside Judy Parfitt as Vera, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh as Selena and Creator/ChristopherPlummer as (unique to the film character) Detective John Mackey, and also features memorable appearances by Creator/JohnCReilly, Creator/BobGunton and Creator/DavidStrathairn. The film is often cited as one of the more underrated adaptations of King's work, but is somewhat obscured by the fact that it followed the release of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' and appeared amid a flurry of memorable (if often of low or questionable quality) screen adaptations of King's work.

King wrote the novel with Creator/KathyBates – whom he'd met on the set of ''Film/{{Misery}}'' and was greatly impressed by – in mind for the role of Dolores in [[FilmOfTheBook the inevitable film version]]. Sure enough, Bates starred in Creator/TaylorHackford's 1995 film alongside Judy Parfitt as Vera, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh as Selena and Creator/ChristopherPlummer as (unique to the film character) Detective John Mackey, and also features memorable appearances by Creator/JohnCReilly, Creator/BobGunton and Creator/DavidStrathairn. The film is often cited as one of the more underrated adaptations of King's work, but is somewhat obscured by the fact that it followed the release of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' and appeared amid a flurry of memorable (if often of low or questionable quality) film and television adaptations of King's work.

Bates later cited the role of Dolores as her favorite of her own.

King wrote the novel with Creator/KathyBates – whom he'd met on the set of ''Film/{{Misery}}'' and was greatly impressed by – in mind for the role of Dolores in [[FilmOfTheBook the inevitable film adaptation]]. Sure enough, Bates starred in Creator/TaylorHackford's 1995 film alongside Judy Parfitt as Vera, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh as Selena and Creator/ChristopherPlummer as (unique to the film character) Detective John Mackey, and also features memorable appearances by Creator/JohnCReilly, Creator/BobGunton and Creator/DavidStrathairn. The film is often cited as one of the more underrated adaptations of King's work, but is somewhat obscured by the fact that it followed the release of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' and appeared amid a flurry of memorable (if often of low or questionable quality) film and television adaptations of King's work.

King wrote the novel with Creator/KathyBates -- whom he'd met on the set of ''Film/{{Misery}}'' and was greatly impressed by -- in mind for the role of Dolores in [[FilmOfTheBook the inevitable film adaptation]]. Sure enough, Bates starred in Creator/TaylorHackford's 1995 film alongside Judy Parfitt as Vera, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh as Selena and Creator/ChristopherPlummer as (unique to the film character) Detective John Mackey, and also features memorable appearances by Creator/JohnCReilly, Creator/BobGunton and Creator/DavidStrathairn. The film is often cited as one of the more underrated adaptations of King's work, but is somewhat obscured by the fact that it followed the release of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' and appeared amid a flurry of memorable (if often of low or questionable quality) film and television adaptations of King's work.

* UnreliableNarrator: One possible interpretation of the story, as it's presented entirely through the first-person narration of a woman speaking to police after being suspected of multiple murders, and it presents her and everything she does in an extremely favorable light.

King wrote the novel with Creator/KathyBates -- whom he'd met on the set of ''Film/{{Misery}}'' and was greatly impressed by -- in mind for the role of Dolores in [[FilmOfTheBook the inevitable film adaptation]]. Sure enough, Bates starred in Taylor Hackford's 1995 film alongside Judy Parfitt as Vera, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh as Selena and Creator/ChristopherPlummer as (unique to the film character) Detective John Mackey, and also features memorable appearances by Creator/JohnCReilly, Creator/BobGunton and Creator/DavidStrathairn. The film is often cited as one of the more underrated adaptations of King's work, but is somewhat obscured by the fact that it followed the release of ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' and appeared amid a flurry of memorable (if often of low or questionable quality) film and television adaptations of King's work.

* AdultFear: [[spoiler: Your husband molesting your daughter and then lying about it]].

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: [[spoiler: Selena starts out as a cheery, helping girl but by the second course of the film, suddenly stops talking, withdraws from her parents (especially her mother), displays emotional moodswings and aggressive behavior and stops bathing. Anyone who has gone through child sexual abuse would know such behavioral red flags]].

* TraumaButton: Selena's repressed memories of [[spoiler: her father molesting her]] traumatize her to the point where she vomits into a sink after remembering it.

* LineOfSightName: Vera says that her son, Donald has a company called Golden West Associates and her daughter, Helga works at called Gaylord Fashion. Dolores finds out at the end that [[spoiler:they both died in 1961 and that Vera most likely made up the names because she used to read romance novels by a publisher named Golden West and had been born in Gaylord, Missouri.]]

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[[caption-width-right:300:First edition cover]]

[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dolclaiborne_3479.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:255:First edition cover]]

''Dolores Claiborne'' is a 1992 psychological thriller novel by Creator/StephenKing. It went on to be the best selling novel of 1992. It was made into a [[Film/DoloresClaiborne 1995 film]].

King wrote the novel with Creator/KathyBates, whom he had met on the set of ''Film/{{Misery}}'' and was greatly impressed by, in mind for the role of Dolores in [[FilmOfTheBook the inevitable film adaptation]]. Sure enough, she starred in the 1995 film of the novel alongside Judy Parfitt as Vera, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh as Selena and Creator/ChristopherPlummer as (unique to the film character) Detective John Mackey, and also features memorable appearances by Creator/JohnCReilly, Creator/BobGunton and Creator/DavidStrathairn. The film is often cited as one of the more underrated adaptations of King's work, but is somewhat obscured by the fact that it followed the release of ''The Shawshank Redemption'' and appeared amid a flurry of memorable (if often of low or questionable quality) film and television adaptations of King's work.

* AdaptationDistillation: The film removes much of the backstory and changes a lot of elements of the novel.

* AgeLift: Dolores, who is sixty-six in the interrogation scenes of the novel, is played by Creator/KathyBates, who was forty-seven at the time of filming. Given that Dolores works for Vera for twenty-one less years in the film than she does in the novel, this probably means she's supposed to be about Bates' age.

* AdaptationDistillation: The film removes much of the backstory and changes a lot of elements of the novel but at the same time...
* AdaptationExpansion: Christopher Plummer's character John Mackey is not present in the novel; his dedication to put Dolores away for life seems to be based on the Scots doctor from the novel, Dr John [=McAuliffe=], who tried to catch Dolores out but was ultimately [[spoiler:unable to prove she murdered him.]]
* AdaptedOut : Many characters, but notably Dolores' other two children and Vera's son and daughter.
* AgeLift: Dolores, who is sixty-six in the interrogation scenes of the novel, is played by Creator/KathyBates, who was forty-seven at the time. Given that Dolores works for Vera for twenty-one less years in the film than she does in the novel, this probably means she's supposed to be about Bates' age.

* TheJavert: If [=McAuliffe=] was TheDeterminator in the novel, his film analog Mackey is the Javert. Unable to prove Dolores murdered her husband, he shows up ''thirty years later'' to convict her for the murder of her employer. He even shows up at her house and follows her on her shopping trips, hoping to unnerve her.