The Ransome Women; The Things They Left Behind

Transgressions #7, 8

by Stephen King, John Farris

New York Times bestsellers and thriller legends John Farris and Stephen King each provided a brand-new, never-before-published tale for this unique collection of stories edited by New York Times bestselling author and mystery legend Ed McBain.

The Ransome Women by John Farris: A psychological thriller that questions the role beauty plays in society and the cult of celebrity. A young and beautiful, starving artist catches a break when her idol, the reclusive portraitist John Ransome offers her a lucrative modeling contract. But how long will her excitement last when she discovers the fate shared by all Ransome's past subjects?

The Things They Left Behind by Stephen King: A hauntingly moving tale of survival guilt in New York City after 9/11. Scott Staley called in sick for his job at the World Trade Center that Tuesday morning. Now in the aftermath of 9/11, he must face his guilty conscience as he begins to find the things his deceased coworkers left behind.

Genres: Fiction, Horror, Short Stories, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Contemporary

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 2006

About the author

Stephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trangressions: Novellas 7 & 8: First up was Stephen King's little mystery suspense tale centred on the possessions of colleagues who were killed in the Twin Trade Towers on 9-11. A typical King read with some neat and interesting first person storytelling, but overall the tale lacks bite, or even a worthwhile hook!

The far longer second novella sees reclusive celebrity artist John Ransome seek the services of Echo as his next model. Echo's cop boyfriend is far less trusting and looks to investigate just what happened to the previous models, known as 'the Ransome Women'? Having to read this directly after a King novella exposed just how bad the writing is; and how formulaic the plotting was, with awful spoiler-ish overt plot hints and very little rationale for characters' behaviours. At least I know I'll never have to read another Farris novel or novella again. Awful! 1 out of 12., One Star read.

2020 read

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains two pieces, a short story by Stephen King called "The Things They Left Behind" and a novella by John Farris called "The Ransome Women." King's story was pretty standard. I liked the basic idea but it certainly wouldn't be in my top twenty-five King stories. The Ransome Women was about a painter who only paints beautiful women, who then end up disfigured. It's a very old fashioned gothic kind of tale but certainly held my interest. Definitely my favorite of the two pieces here.

[Murphy C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I read this in 2008 or '09, and I remember liking both novellas quite a lot. This was the first John Farris I ever read, and I made a point to read a few of his novels later. If you're on the fence about this one, I say go ahead and read it.

[Pierre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le voci delle cose, Stephen King: l'io narrante vive a New York nel 2002. Improvvisamente, incominciano a comparire a casa sua gli oggetti dei suoi conoscenti scomparsi l'anno prima durante l'11 settembre e gli è impossibile liberarsene, nonostante i suoi tentativi. Questo racconto di una cinquantina di pagine racconta di quanto gli oggetti del passato possano ancora parlarci nel presente, tema a me carissimo. Da solo vale l'intero volume.

La donna del faro, John Farris: l'ingenua Eco, proveniente da una famiglia estremista cattolica francese, viene convinta con ricchi regali dal misterioso pittore iperquotato John Ransome a vivere con lui per un anno in un'isola del Maine, in modo da creare un legame notevole che gli permetta di ritrarla nel suo prossimo quadro. Il fidanzato di lei, Peter, ingelosito, decide di scavare nel passato del pittore contattando le sue precedenti modelle per cercare qualcosa di losco. Il romanzo breve (circa 200 pagine) non rientra nel mio comfort genre, ma tutto sommato si lascia leggere: è scorrevole e tiene abbastanza alta la tensione. Forse l'esito è un po' troppo scontato.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Couple of quick stories to keep me entertained.

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Things They Left Behind was about someone who, by fate, never went to the Pentagon on the infamous and tragic September 11th bombing. He suffers what they call ‘Survivor’s Guilt’, which is fair enough, and believes that either he’s losing his mind, or that he is actually seeing particular objects that belonged to his dead colleagues mysteriously turn up in his apartment. After coming to terms with this, he realizes that these objects – memorabilia, if you will – are for him to return to the families of those deceased.

So there you have it. A fairly poignant tale about grief, and patching up broken families, loved ones, and children.

Except, once again, Mr. King screws it up by infusing way too much humor into the story. Now I appreciate the importance of comic relief in such dismal stories as this, but his idea of humor is all wrong here. Where he should be focusing on the emotional reaction this protagonist must feel in regards to what is happening, we instead get constant references to masturbation and such other things that confuse me as to what the author was hoping to achieve. The contrast between serious and silly is way too muddled up.

Imagine the opening to Saving Private Ryan, where the old man walks through that cemetery and breaks down in front of Tom Hanks’s cenotaph. That scene almost brings tears to my eyes whenever I watch it. But if that movie had followed the same path as this confused story does, we would probably get some misplaced prologue about him taking a shit, and then wanking over his granddaughter before heading off to pay respect to his dead comrade.

You see what I mean?

[Abi Allan · Rating 2 out of 5]

* Review for The Ransome Women *

Honestly just did not vibe with this at all. One reviewer commented on how predictable it felt, which I actually quite liked - to begin with - as it gave a sense of doom to the novella with Echo sealing her fate even as Peter protested. However, the novella was too long for that sense of doom to actually be effective - it would have suited a short story much more. Then, when there actually were twists, the novella had just dragged on too long for them to actually be effective or shocking - I was just bored and wanted it over with by then. The middle of the novella, in particular, really dragged, and once things got going again I just wasn’t invested anymore. At times it was a struggle to finish.

I also didn’t think much of Echo’s characterisation. Her man’s out there sacrificing his life for her and she’s making out with some old rich bloke she hardly knows, despite being a good Christian girl? Alright. I get that he’s supposed to have this magnetic pull, but her stripping in front of him just seemed to come out of nowhere. And why did none of his other women ever try to get in touch with him? The first one seemed to want to wait until her face was fixed, but the others? Make it make sense.

And as for the ending - again, this would have suited a short story much more. I am glad things turned out well for Echo and Peter, though.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked Transgressions up as it featured a Stephen King story. The scoop on this series is as follows: the late Ed McBain asked a bunch of famous scribes to write novellas (longer than a short story, shorter than a novel) and he placed no restrictions on the authors regarding subject matter. The result was a multi part book series with tales from people such as Walter Mosley and Sharyn McCrumb. The volume I found featured two stories-one from King (which I have never seen anywhere else) and another story by John Farris. Farris' entry is actually more thrilling than King's though that may be because his story is several times longer-he had more time to get some traction. I intend to track all of the books in this series down if I can.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two novellas, tied to crime. One, by Stephen King, connected with the enormous crime of 9/11. A man who played hooky from work on that fateful day. Almost a year later, office personal items from his coworkers who died that day appear in his home. He can't get rid of them. How does he deal with them? The other, by John Farris, deals with a young artist and a famous, but reclusive artist. How are they tied to crimes? Recommended.

[Paul Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I just read the Stephen King story, which was, surprisingly, the shorter of the two -- a mere 58 pages, if you can believe it.

It was decent. Written in the aftermath of 9/11, it told the story of one man who worked in the towers, and has survivor guilt because he wasn't killed that day.

[Travis Sutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ok....
I would say if you're an SK completionist check it out. But it won't blow you away.

[Eric Abels · Rating 4 out of 5]

The John Farris story is captivating, hard to put down.

[Josée Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 stars for the Stephen King story and 2 stars for the John Farris novella. The writing of this latter was very cringy. Why did most encounters and situations have to be sexualized? Ugh.

[Amber Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book. Two totally different stories. I couldn't put it down!

[Jeffrey Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a long-time Stephen King fan and loved The Fury by John Farris, but I don't think I'll remember much about either story in a week.

[Susan Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book from one of my online reading groups because of Stephen King. However, I enjoyed this book because of John Farris. Go figure.

Transgressions is a concept created by author Ed McBain. He invited several of his favorite thriller and horror authors to write novellas for this series. There are a total of four Transgressions books, with the Farris/King effort being the second. None of the stories have anything to do with each other, so you can read one or read them all and be a happy reader.

King's novella was entitled The Things They Left Behind. The main character, Scott Staley, comes home one day to find that his apartment has been invaded by things - things that were owned by his former co-workers, who all died in 9/11. Scott would have been one of them, but he called in sick that day. I was expecting something creepy, shameful, and disturbing. It's King, right? But this was a mild version of what I was hoping to read. I was of the impression that this novella was just an afterthought to King.

But, don't be disheartened! The Things They Left Behind was merely 58 pages of this 304 page book. The rest belongs to John Farris and his novella, The Ransome Women. I had never heard of Farris, but I figured his story was worth a try. Echo is a young and beautiful girl working in the art world, but what she really wants is to be an artist herself. Then she gets the chance to be a model for her idol, John Ransome. She'll have time for her own art as well as receive some wonderful critiques from an artist she greatly admires. What could be bad about it? For starters, she has to spend a year with Ransome, and leave her friends, family and fiance behind. They only contact that she can have is through e-mail. But it pays so well, and an opportunity like this won't come along again. Echo takes the chance of a lifetime, but is she risking everything? Her fiance, Peter, is discovering what happened to Ransome's former models. With Echo sequestered on an island with Ransome, can Peter get to her before it's too late?

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection comprises two novellas: The Things They Left Behind by Stephen King, and The Ransome Women by John Farris.

The Things They Left Behind combines the idea of survivor's guilt with King's signature sense of creepiness. Scott Staley is a rural accountant who decided to play hooky work one day, something that would be an otherwise unremarkable event. Except that one day was September 11, 2001, and Scott works at Light and Bell Insurance on the 110th floor of the World Trade Centre. The story picks up a year later, when objects belonging to his late colleagues mysteriously appear in his apartment, whispering to him, refusing to go away. The story has an interesting premise, but is very short, too short to really develop any real character development or mystery.

John Farris is an author that I hadn't come across previous to this novella. The Ransome Women started off like that one episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark with Jewel Staite (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cN45... for those that want to watch it - it turns out the story is nothing like this one). Farris does a great job creating a psychological thriller that keeps you on your toes about the intentions and motivations of the main characters. John Ransome is a reclusive and eccentric painter who only emerges once every few years with a few paintings of a beautiful exotic woman. Echo Halloran is a art appraiser for an auction house who catches Ransome's eye. He proposes that she become his next muse, with the condition that she lives on his secluded island for a year. Though Echo is initially hesitant, she agrees to go, much to the chagrin of her detective fiance, Peter. Following his gut feeling, Peter tracks down the other women that have posed for Ransome (the Ransome Women) and finds that his mysterious past has harsh implications for his future. The characters are well developed and the story is compelling.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A ghost story of sorts, inspired by the tragic events of 9/11.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book solely for the Stephen King story and was deeply disappointed. The story was a bit odd and disjointed to me...

The second story was by John Harris and was a page turner. I expected it to be horror since it was paired with Stephen King, but it was more of a mystery. The story was about a beautiful woman who is approached by an artist to who wants to paint her under the condition that she live with him for a year and have no contact with the outside world. Her boyfriend is a cop and of course abhors the idea. He ends up doing some detective works and finds some mysterious happenings surrounding the artist. I utterly disliked the main character finding her vain and selfish, but nevertheless the story kept me enthralled with what would happen next.

[Jonathan Funk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each of the books in this collection are well suited to the short story genre. Short stories are a marvelous medium to explore an idea without needing to belabor any particular point.

'The Ransome Women' takes a story that could have been told in more detail over several hundred pages and condenses it down to a wonderfully short and sweet story that is 'just the good stuff'. 'The things they left behind' explores 9/11 survivors guilt and the metaphysical ramifications in one particular individual's life. It is just enough to be explored without needing to be elaborated.

Both stories benefit from the format so that what might have been 3-star novels, I can happily rate as 4-star short stories.

[Armada Volya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was reading this book on my way to work and it was often hard to put it dawn when I would reach my stop. For the most part I enjoyed The Ransom Women, by John Farris. It was a very intriguing tale that appealed to me as an artist as well as a lover of good stories.
The Things They Left Behind is the reason I'm giving this book four instead of five stars. I love Stephen Kings novels, but I haven't found a lot of his short stories that I'd actually like. It's just not his writing style. He ends up spending so much time to look into the character that this story looks more like a character study. The things They Left Behind is short, only 58 pages, so you'd mostly be getting The Ransom Women, which is definitely worth reading.

[Laura Buechler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had read King's "The Things They Left Behind" previously and quite enjoyed it, so my decidedly "meh" review is for Farris' "The Ransome Women". Maybe it's partly my own fault for expecting something more supernatural/suspenseful, but the feeling I am left with after reading this story is "There's three days I'll never get back." Predictable, pointless, and populated with characters that we don't get to know well enough to give a crap about ... meh. Meh, I say.

[Stephanie Jachymek · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm basing this on the Farris novella The Ransome Women, because I have previously read the King one.
To put it simply, the writing was bland, the story was predictable and the characters fell flat. I didn't care about any of them, but being the type of person that can't not finish a book, I trudged my way through.
I would be hard pressed to reccomend this to anyone. I am unaware if any of his other works are decent, but I'm most assuredly not going to find out soon.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two short stories. The first, by Stephen King, is about a survivor from 9-11 who starts to find tokens from the office he should have been in had he not been playing hooky. In the second story, a famous artist uses beautiful women as models, and then awful things start happening to them. A thrilling story.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ransome Women was as suspenseful as it was creepy, but The Things They Left Behind by King was hauntingly heartbreaking, especially if you were either close to NYC after 9/11, knew anyone that was near there, or knew anyone directly affected by the horrific terrorist attack.

[Tanvir Muntasim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read the King novella in one of his short story collections, and it is quite touching. The Farris novella was pulpy trash, and inflated to fill up the pages. I doubt I will check his fiction any further.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best, not his worst...reading this reminded me how much I used to LOVE King's writing and how long it's been since I sunk my teeth into one of his novels...I should really do that again some day...

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sad and slightly supernatural tale of what happens when a man starts finding souvenirs of his colleagues who died in the terror attacks of 9-11. One of the more thought provoking stories in ‘Just After Sunset’.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, the jewel here is Stephen King's "The Things They Left Behind". It's a poignant tale of a man and his post 9/11 experiences. Of course, as it is Mr. King, it's a tad creepy, but it really pulled at my own heart strings. For all of the characters. Even Mr. Yow, Git Down.

[MaryAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

wasn't thrilled with either story. Farris's was OK - formulaic & predictable.
S King's was written because they asked him, quite obviously. Wouldn't have missed a thing not reading it.....this from one of his "Constant Readers".