Once in Every Life [Mass Market Paperback]

Kristin Hannah (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 23, 1992

Tess Gregory's brilliant career as a research scientist hides her longings for husband and child. Though deaf, she is a free spirit -- a woman full of life and love. She is struck down all too soon.
But for Tess, a new life begins at her death, in post-Civil War America. She is now Amarylis Rafferty, wife and mother of three -- and she can hear. Shocked and disoriented by her new surroundings, she is drawn into the savage heartache burdening the family, especially her husband, Jack, a man who fears himself capable of anything.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tess Gregory is a successful research scientist with a poignant past when her deafness keeps her from hearing and avoiding an oncoming bus. Because her life has been so unsatisfactory and truncated, she is given a chance at a new one. A guardian angel escorts Tess to the "theater of second chances," where her options consist of choosing among several different men to accompany in her next go-round. What she fails to understand is that the appealing man and newborn baby on whom she settles are living in the year 1873. On the positive side, Tess has been reincarnated in the body of a drop-dead gorgeous new mother complete with curly blond hair and perfect hearing. As for the down side, the woman whose body she now inhabits has been unspeakably cruel to her husband and daughters, so that they are afraid of her. Before her situation is resolved she uses her modern psychiatric knowledge to help a dyslexic daughter learn to read, as well to cure her husband of the post-traumatic stress disorder he suffers from as a result of having fought in the Civil War. While not all of the details are historically right--much of the language sounds up-to-the-minute--the heroine's pluck and imagination are always engaging. Hannah wrote The Enchantment.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

If you had the chance to pick your next life, what would it be? That's the question Kristin Hannah answers in this time-travel romance with a twist. And it has a great heroine who faces life's little quirks with a wry sense of humor that will make you laugh out loud. Lisa Congelosi, Sales Rep

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (December 23, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449148386
• ISBN-13: 978-0449148389
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.9 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Time Travel

More About the Author

Kristin Hannah was born in September 1960 in Southern California and grew up at the beach, making sand castles and playing in the surf. When she was eight years old, her father drove the family to Western Washington which they called home.

After working in a trendy advertising agency, Kristin decided to go to law school. "But you're going to be a writer" are the prophetic words she would never forget from her mother. Kristin was in her third-and final-year of law school and her mom was in the hospital, facing the end of her long battle with cancer. Kristin was shocked to discover that her mother believed she would become a writer. For the next few months, they collaborated on the worst, most clichéd historical romance ever written.

After her mom's death, she packed up all those bits and pieces of paper they'd collected and put them in a box in the back of her closet. Kristin got married and continued practicing law.

Then Kristin found out she was pregnant and was on bed rest for five months. By the time she'd read every book in the house and started asking her husband for cereal boxes to read, she knew she was a goner. That's when her husband reminded her of the book she'd started with her mom. Kristin pulled out the boxes of research material, dusted them off and began writing. By the time their son was born, she'd finished a first draft and found an obsession.

The rejections came, of course, and they stung for a while, but each one really just spurred her to try harder, work more. In 1990, Kristin got "the call," and in that moment, she went from a young mother with a cooler-than-average hobby to a professional writer, and has never looked back. In all the years between then and now, she have never lost her love of, or her enthusiasm for, telling stories. Kristin feels truly blessed to be a wife, a mother, and a writer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story!, October 30, 2000

By 

Judith E. Pavluvcik (Dreaming of the beach in Hawaii, but living in the reality of the desert in Arizona!!) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once in Every Life (Mass Market Paperback)

Once in Every Life is another winner from Kristin Hannah. Tess Gregory, a brilliant research scientist, is killed before "her time is up". She is given "another" chance to "go back to earth" to resume her life, but she is given a choice on where she will go back and to what time period. Tess is not pulled back to earth by her intellect, but instead by her heart. She chooses post civil war America in the 1870's and finds that she faces an incredible challenge in bringing love, warmth, and a sense of family to this fragmented family without much love.

Tess, now know as Lissa Rafferty, finds that she is also now longer deaf in her life and is also the mother of three, which includes a newborn. She longs for the closeness of family and love, things that she herself did not have growing up. Lissa's patience and determination lovingly bring the two older girls and her husband Jack back together as a family.

Once again, Kristin Hannah weaves her magic and draws her readers into the depths of her characters. You are able to feel Jack's isolation, loneliness, and his need for acceptance. You can feel the girls' hesitation and fright in response to their "old" mother's attitude, indifference and anger.

I have read all of Kristin Hannah's books and again, wish for sequels to each and every book!! The characters are true to life and the love story is easily related to. Her heroine's are all depicted as strong, confident and determined women! Hannah's inspiring love stories make believers of us all!

Kristin Hannah has easily become one of my favorite authors and I highly recommend this book!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get ready to be transformed into this book., February 15, 2001

By 

Bastet "Meow" (Florida, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Once in Every Life (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first time travel novel that actually has made me feel as if I am in the shoes of the main character. You feel the pain, longing, tears, and joy of each person in this story. I have read this book eight times and I share it with my friends, old and new. I absolutely love Kristin Hannah and the wonderful stories that she creates. I don't hesitate to pick up one of her new releases and head straight to the check-out before I've even read what the story is about.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a must read for time travel lovers, October 3, 2004

By 

Gisele (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Once in Every Life (Mass Market Paperback)

I just finished this book and fell in love with the characters and their story. It was so good I just couldn't put it down and read it in one night. The begining of the book was a bit unbelievable in the time travel aspect but once you get over that the story is captivating and heart warming. I highly recommend this book. it's a must read.