Misery Chastain is a fictional character in a successful series of romance novels, created by author Paul Sheldon. The books about Misery are set in Victorian-era England, and Annie Wilkes claims there are eight of them.
The books center around a love triangle involving Misery as well as two men named Ian and Geoffrey (called Winthorne in the film), who are best friends.
The books are considered trashy romance novels, but are extremely commercially successful. Despite this, Paul Sheldon privately detests the books because he has aspirations to become a more serious, literary writer. For this reason, he somewhat spitefully kills off Misery in the final book, despite knowing it will disappoint fans.
Misery Chastain books in the novel[]
- Misery's Quest - one of the pictures in Annie's scrapbook shows her reading this book.
- Misery's Lover - mentioned both in Misery and in Rose Madder.
- Misery's Child - the fourth book in the series, in which Misery dies in childbirth.
- Misery's Return - the fifth book, which Paul writes over the course of the novel.
- Misery's Journey - mentioned in Rose Madder.
- Misery's Paradise - mentioned in Desperation.
- Misery Unchained - seen in an episode of Haven.
Misery Chastain books in the film[]
- Misery's Quest
- Misery's Search
- Misery's Challenge
- Misery's Trial
- Misery's Triumph
- Misery's Dilemma
- Misery's Love
- Misery's Child
Notes[]
- At the end of the film, Paul's agent tells him that for "the first time" he has "a shot at some prizes" with his first post-Misery book, suggesting that none of the Misery novels ever won a prize. However, at the beginning of the film, she reveals that the books made good money nonetheless, as the profits went towards Paul's daughter's braces and college tuition, as well as two houses and floor seats to the Knicks.
Gallery[]
Annie's shelf of Misery books.
The dust jacket of Misery's Child.