A powerful psychological crime novel by Stephen King. Told almost entirely as a single, uninterrupted first-person confession, the story follows Dolores Claiborne, a strong-willed housekeeper on the fictional Little Tall Island, Maine.

After her wealthy employer, Vera Donovan, dies under suspicious circumstances, Dolores is questioned by the police. In response, she recounts the story of her life, revealing decades of hardship, domestic abuse, family conflict, and a long-buried secret surrounding the death of her husband years earlier.

As Dolores's confession unfolds, the novel explores themes of survival, resilience, motherhood, justice, trauma, and the difficult choices people make when trapped in desperate situations. Stephen King gradually builds suspense through Dolores's compelling voice rather than supernatural horror, creating a deeply emotional and morally complex story.

Unlike many of King's novels, Dolores Claiborne contains no overt supernatural elements, relying instead on psychological tension and exceptional character development. It shares thematic connections with Gerald's Game, and the two novels are loosely linked by the same solar eclipse.