Customer Reviews

Once Upon a Day

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Wow! Lisa Tucker has written a story of a family history and interpersonal drama which will consume the reader from the first chapter. I usually juggle a few books at once, but this one made me drop all others, and stay up late at night, devouring the story.

No plot summary can do this novel justice. Essentially, we have a family living in seclusion on a New Mexico estate. Dad Charles has raised his two children, now in their early twenties, with no contact with the outside world, in 1950's-style clothing, and they worship him and fear the outside world. All is well until the older brother, Jimmy, escapes on a quest to find their supposedly-dead mother, and his sister Dorothea follows him out into the world. I'm sure you've figured out the early-on twist by now--Mom isn't dead, and Dad kidnapped his kids two decades ago.

The story involves both the present time and flashbacks of the dissolution of marriage between Charles and Lucy, leading to his fanatic escape into desert seclusion with their two children. Charles, a famous actor and director, is an unbalanced and controlling man who smothers his family with love and protection. He actively ruins his young wife's acting career out of his fear and paranoia, which he sees as "love." One can only assume that Tucker started working on this novel well before the current famous Hollywood couple that pairs an older man (with infamous religious values) with a younger actress who seems to be cut off from family and friends (TC and KH), but the parallels are eerie. In fact, when I was absorbed in this story, I had to keep reminding myself that this isn't a true Hollywood story. It's larger than life, sure, but not hard to imagine as a factual memoir.

Tucker's novel has a real strength it its subtle exploration of family dysfunction. Again and again, we see the consequences of the effects of dysfunction, from Charles's own childhood relationship with his father, to Lucy's need for a father-figure-of-a-husband after her tumultuous childhood and early sexuality, to the effects of Charles's smothering on his own children. Even the way that Lucy and Jimmy learn the truth about their parents' relationship is extremely troubling to everyone involved. Tucker never overtly mentions therapy, but I certainly kept thinking, "Boy, he/she could use a good therapist at this point in their life."

Highly recommended! Clear your schedule before you pick this one up! Now I need to go read Tucker's first two novels...

I am grappling for the right adjectives for a fair critique of this well-plotted, effectively narrated novel. I keep coming back to the fact that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone -- and I can't seem to articulate to myself why, except that there are simply too many wonderful books out there and life is too short to read unspectacular novels. I wouldn't insult this one by calling it mediocre, because Lisa Tucker clearly possesses plenty of skill as a novelist; and yet there was just nothing terrific about it. If an unpublished author handed me the raw manuscript, I'd be really impressed, because it is free of the kinds of errors that most aspiring writers make, and yet...as gripping and carefully woven as the plot is and as compelling as the characters are, I'm left with a big shrug. It just didn't sparkle for me at all. An earlier review called it "catnip for book groups," and I would have to say exactly the opposite. There just wouldn't be anything to debate; there's no nuance to grab hold of. On the plus side, it would be fair to say that the author wrapped up everything tidily in terms of plot -- it all fit together neatly and satisfyingly in the end. On the other side, when I finish reading a great novel I keep thinking about the characters, wondering what might have happened to them after the novel ended, etc.... and that's not happening for me with this one. It feels over-and-done. Even the theme of "everything can change in a day": as another Amazon reviewer essentially said (I'm paraphrasing from memory here), "I think we can all agree with that." Exactly: no one would disagree with that premise, but I find myself merely saying "True enough" and moving on. I don't think a great novel can be constructed on a theme which is essentially nothing more than a truism.

I consider the novel a marginal four-star. Lisa Tucker has an interesting premise, where a dysfunctional family disintegrates, with one part living in a bubble in New Mexico. When the bubble bursts, Ms. Tucker has plenty of opportunity to unfold an interesting story.

She avoids too much of the "fish out of water" premise or "country bumpkin meets the city" that could have caused the story to descend into predictable gags or stale ideas. Instead, the thread with Dorothea and Stephen is easily the core of the novel, even though at its root the premise is highly unrealistic. I credit an author who can take an idea that seems very improbable and turn it into something that drives the narrative and keeps the reader engaged.

I was less interested in the sections that focus on Charles and Lucy, with their relationship again based on a highly improbable beginning. That's ok, of course, because the first meeting of Charles and Lucy is less important than Lucy's humble origins and their effect on her psyche and the resulting family dysfunction. We also eventually get more insight into why Charles developed into the controlling man obsessed with safety.

The two characters were too annoying for my tastes, which muted the pleasure of the novel. That may be my own issue, as it's kind of funny that I don't have a problem in novels with bad guys and creeps - it's the annoying people.

Of course, Ms. Tucker needed them to be annoying but not evil, given that their children turned out reasonably OK and to set up the last section of the novel that moved toward a relatively unsurprising ending. The very ending (the last scene) with two of the main characters was a nice touch.

Ms. Tucker's key psychological premise is that a lifetime can be dominated by a single event or just a single moment, normally a traumatic event rather than a pure moment of joy, and that lifetime ripples into the people around you. I don't think anybody would deny that, and we all may have people in our circles who have direct experience. For example, my own father used to talk about the impact of losing his mother at a young age and seeing his father drop dead when the son was 13. For many people, events like that are not easily shaken and may be the basis for the rest of their lives.

Therefore, it's fine to have this premise be fundamental to a novel's theme and story line. In this case it was a matter of watching the problem unfold in a forward direction for two characters (Lucy and Stephen, as we know what their "events" were) and wondering what the domino was for another (Charles, as we know how he turned out, but not why). The resulting story is good enough. I just would not call it especially insightful.

I heard about this book through a women's book club and noted the 5-star ranking on these reviews. Once I got into the book, I was surprised by the very graphic account of an assault against one of the female characters. Though the event itself was crucial to the plot, I thought the horrific detail was gratuitous, as well as highly upsetting, and I would think twice before recommending this book to another woman. The story was engaging and kept me reading, but I was disappointed by the lack of depth in the two main female characters. They "rise above" profoundly disturbing experiences rather than confronting them head on, and the ending of the novel is too "neat."

....have I read a book like this. One so heartwarming, uplifting and full of hope, I can barely contain myself with the joy I feel now having just finished it. I devoured this book in almost 3 days, up until 5am just to finish and learn the true fates of the characters. Bravo Lisa Tucker, I cannot wait to read more.

I love Once Upon a Day. I found myself unable to put it down because I was dying to see where it was going. From the very first page, I was hooked. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read. It is a page-turner, but so much more. It has tremendously deep and important things to say about how efforts to keep those we love safe can be foiled despite our best intentions. I found one of the characters in this book to be my hero but I won't say more because to do so would give some hints about the plot and I don't want to deprive anyone of the joy of being able to read this story as it unfolds with such beauty and such compassion. This book made my cry buckets and I was so sad when I had to say good-bye to these characters who had warmed my heart and captured my imagination.

I read this book in less than a day. I could not put it down. The story starts with a cab driver in St. Louis who has lost his family in an accident and can't move on with his life.

The story then picks up in another direction when he picks up a fare (a girl who is a throwback to another time in her dress and talk, etc...) She is so naive yet wise and honest. This girl begins to give this cabbie a new direction in his own life and you begin to learn of her bizzare childhood and the secrets and lies that molded her life.

The outcome is healing and I have to say I enjoyed it completely. The characters are real and vivid. Great book!!!!!!

Lisa Tucker has done an amazing thing.

If I picked up a book, peered into the front cover and saw the words "actress", "film producer", "cab driver", I would likely close the cover of that book, certain that I was holding a tired worn out plot with dull uninteresting characters who had nothing to say. The amazing thing Lisa has done was not only in making these characters fresh and believable, but she gave them profound things to say and think.

All of these wonderful characters are nothing without a story to tell. This one is so compelling that I read it in one evening, always the sign of a good book!

I read Lisa Tucker's novel on an all-day plane ride -- and barely lifted my eyes from the page. She does a remarkable job of creating so many convincing worlds and inhabiting them with rich complicated characters. Her prose is lovely, her scenes are vivid and compelling, her secrets are haunting. I've recommended this book to everyone I know.

While one must be a mite credulous to accept all of the coincidences that fate provides in Lisa Tucker's third novel, the story is an apt reminder of life's infinite possibilities and the verity that healing can take place. Some may also find a bit of carpe diem in it as the plot is propelled by what can occur in a single day.

As she always does, narrator Joyce Bean gives a clear, precise reading of this story of people who have been touched by tragedy.

Dorothea is one of the most sympathetic characters. Her wealthy father, Charles O'Brien, has sought to protect her from every danger. Thus, he took Dorothea and her brother, Jimmy, to live in a remote New Mexico town. It wasn't exactly camping out as their home was a 35 acre estate, sans television, newspapers, or any contact with the world. Brother and sister know little of their mother as Charles told them nothing.

One day Jimmy disappears, evidently seeking information about his mother. Dorothea goes in search of him, which is her first venture into the world. She makes an odd appearance, dressed in 1950s clothes and appearing to be at a loss as to how to handle modern conveniences.

She finds a ride from the bus station in a cab driven by a former doctor, Stephen Spaulding, who has retreated from his known life following the tragic deaths of his wife and child.

It doesn't take much to know that these two disenfranchised people will help each other in many ways. But, what of Jimmy and the mother he and Dorothea never knew?

- Gail Cooke