Rosie Real Rules!
It is not uncommon for Stephen King to write about men with extreme anger issues. If a female author were to write a character like Norman she would be called a man-hating harpy. He is a caricature, even in the chapters written from his perspective, his thoughts consist entirely of hate and rage. Norman is a misogynist, a racist, and a wife-beating sack of shit, and he's a cop.
After fourteen terrifying years Rosie leaves him. She leaves him because a drop of blood on a sheet grabs her imagination and won't let her fall back to sleep. And when she leaves she is amazing. She runs even though she knows he won't give up until he finds her. She trusts and she loves and she starts to believe in herself again. Rosie is probably my favourite of King's characters, while Norman is my least favourite.
Part thriller and part dark fantasy strangeness, it is a story about not simply surviving abuse but transcending it.
