Customer Reviews

The Promised World: A Novel

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This was hard to put down. The Promised World is a life that Lily and her twin brother Billy live in. A world of stories, plots, memory lapse and many lies. Lily is a Professor of American Literature and loves to read. Billy never made it through college, married young and had three children. Lily has been married 12 years but has no childen.

When Billy is accidently killed in what is presumed a suicide, Lily goes into a deep depression in a world that she remembers only Billy and what he told her happened in her life. She has no memory of her childhood other than what Billy has told her.

This is the story of how Lily tries to save Billy's children from what she thinks is abuse from their mother and her boyfriend. It is also the story of Patrick, Lily's husband and his attempts to understand his mentally impaired wife. There is much for Lily to remember about her past and she suffers through this painfully. I suffered with her as she re-lives the abuse of her childhood and begins to learn her life has been built on lies.

Very good book. I couldn't put it down.

I only had to read one review of The Promised World to know that I would like this book. I requested it from my library immediately, and as soon as I took it home, I dove right in. I had to use all of my willpower not to finish the novel that same day - it captivated me from the start.

The book starts out with Lila learning that her twin brother, Billy, has just died - he's committed "suicide by police". Since Billy is hands-down the most important person in her life, she predictably falls to pieces. But Lila is not the only person who was affected by Billy's death - he left behind a (soon to be ex-) wife and three young children, who are also obviously shaken with Billy's death. And in the aftermath of his death, Lila begins to question everything she thought she knew about her brother, about her past, and about her own memories.

The Promised World is a pretty awesome novel. Just as I expected, I loved the book and couldn't put it down. Let me first tell you that the novel is told from multiple perspectives - something I love when it's done well, and Lisa Tucker definitely does it well here. The story is told by Lila, her husband Patrick, Ashley (Billy's wife), and William (Billy's ten-year-old son). Hearing from all these different characters really gives the reader a true feel for who Billy was, since each person had such a different relationship with him than the others. It also helped to see the characters for what they really were - Lila, for example, seemed okay when she was narrating, but from any other characters' perspective, it was clear that she was not handling Billy's death well, that she was being completely self-absorbed and wasn't thinking of anything but her own grief. And Ashley was clearly not a perfect mother, but she was a totally different person from Lila's point of view as she was from Patrick's or William's.

The family secrets are exposed slowly in the book, creating a tense atmosphere that really kept me guessing. Obviously child abuse is at the heart of the issues in Lila's family, but who, what, where, when, and how are some of the questions Lila doesn't seem to know the answers to about her own past. She has vague memories, but Billy constructed elaborate stories about their childhood that made her forget most of what really happened. After Billy's death, Lila needs to figure out for herself what's real and what's not concerning her own life. I had an idea what secrets Lila would uncover, and I ended up being partly right but partly VERY wrong, so I can tell you right now that the book is not too predictable, which I loved. There were some aspects to the story that I'm still confused on, actually, and now that I'm thinking about it I'm not sure that Lisa Tucker meant for the reader to have all the answers in the end. I think that Lila herself didn't even have all the answers in the end, but it's what she did learn about herself and her brother that is important.

The Promised World is definitely a book that I'd recommend reading. It's got suspense, drama, family secrets, multiple points of view - what's not to love?

This is a very abosorbing psychological thriller involving a twin brother and sister, now grown up. Lila is a professor of English, married to Patrick. Billy, although a "genius",works in construction, is married to Ashley and has three kids. Strange things begin to happen within the first 50 pages. Nothing is what it seems. Lila and Billy are exceptionally close. Lila mentions that Billy has forged their parents' death certificates. Why? How? It comes out that the twins had a stepfather who hurt them in some way. What happened to their real father? Billy suddenly commits suicide in a way that puts him on the national news. Lila begins to have memory problems and can't distinguish actual memories from dreams. Patrick, thinking she's depressed over her brother's death, starts digging into the past, one of the worst mistakes he could have made. Ashley refuses to let them see the kids. This sets the scene. It takes to the end of the book to find out what is real and what is fantasy, who is good and who is evil, who is telling the truth and who is lying. Chess is the family game, with its strategies matching the mind games played. The destruction stretches out over three generations of the Cole family, which Billy always referred to as "cursed." Hurtling toward a nail-biting ending, you won't put this book down. Great combination of suspense and family novel. One of the best of the good Vine books I've read.

It's very hard to sum up Lisa Tucker's new novel, The Promised World. It's a complex book, nuanced and empathetic. It's a book that shows that every story can have more than one perspective, and that what we view through the prism of our own experiences, is often viewed much differently by others. What we think of as intimacy may really just be the veneer of intimacy; a thin hard shell that we use to protect ourselves from getting to close. What we think of as betrayal may be deeper and harsher than even we comprehended, or it may merely be the act of someone who loves us and wants to spare us. And mostly, that what we think is innocence, may really be ignorance. The novel shows us all that mistakes can be made, with the best of intentions, which are difficult and painful to rectify. But it also shows that these solutions, albeit painful, ultimately bring people closer together, and show us all what loyalty and love can do.

As usual Lisa Tucker didn't disappoint me with this novel. As with The Song Reader, her characters are finely drawn, with multi-faceted personalities. Tucker is able to show us these complex characters in a very life-like way, not as plot driven people, but as real people. The antagonist in the story, Lila's mother, is the quintessential "Mommy Dearest" and frankly makes Joan Crawford's mother look positively saint-like. Lila's husband, Patrick, has almost as much emotional baggage as Lila, and they're perfect for each other because they have so studiously ignore anything painful in their pasts for years. Bobby's estranged wife, who starts out as a shallow, narrow-minded trashy type woman, is shown from all perspectives, and her behavior becomes more human and more easily understood and defined. In short, her characters are human, they're you, and me, and people we know, and that is what makes the story work so well. The Promised World was a really lovely novel, one I'll think about for quite some time.

Lila and Billy are more than just brother and sister. They are twins, best friends. Lila idolizes her brother. He is everything to her. There is speculation that they were even more than that. It is apparent that Billy and Lila suffered some kind of abuse as children. They helped each other by reading books. Both are very well versed in literature. In fact, Lila becomes a professor and Billy a writer, albeit unpublished. When Billy dies tragically, Lila's world starts to unravel. As she makes her way through her grief, she realizes that maybe her life was one big story.

I'm not sure what to make of this book. It was engaging, then not. I would read it, not want to put it down. Then, I would not want to finish reading it. Maybe I was afraid of how it would end. The Promised World is definitely a well written book. The characters were likable, despite their flaws. There was enough suspense to keep the story interesting. However, something was missing for me. (I do have to say that I liked the Gravity's Rainbow cameo.)

I would recommend this book to anybody not afraid to try something new.

Lisa Tucker's "The Promised World" is an engrossing and complex tale. When Lila Cole's twin brother Billy dies in a shocking manner, via "suicide by police", Lila, a Professor of American Literature, finds her world crashing around her. Her husband of 12 years, Patrick, tries to help her out through a quagmire of depression, but Billy's death brings many other questions to the surface, such as the puzzling fact that Lila is not able to remember her early life, especially the period of her childhood. All of Lila's information abt this period of her life is based on what Billy told her, which Lila discovers may not have been the gospel truth.

This is a story peopled with characters that have depth and elicit reader's reactions, especially sympathy. Told via multiple narrative view-points, it is a complex story, yet one that is riveting and beautifully told, engaging the reader's attention until the very last page. It is not perfect, because there are parts that lack credibility, but it is nevertheless an engaging psychological suspense novel that will appeal to those who are fans of the genre. I have not read any of Ms Tucker's other works, but the strength of this novel compels me to check out her previous novels.

I think this author probably has talent and a story to tell, but this book does not do the job. It is the story of Billy and Lila, twins with an odd bond, and I never did care about the two of them even by the end of the book. There were far too many loose ends that were never resolved but luckily I didn't care enough about the characters to be bothered too much.
I gave this book three stars because there were some terrific characters in this book. Ashley and Patrick, the two respective spouses, were well-developed and sympathetic and I was happy to get to know them. Also, I found myself cheering for Billy's son William.
I finished the book with relief, still not knowing why Billy did what he did when he did or understanding what Pearl thought her plan was going to achieve or understanding how Lila and Billy's childhood was supposed to explain later actions. Sorry, but I can't recommend this book for reading.

Child abuse is always a difficult subject to wrap one's head around. It's uncomfortable and emotional and not short of infuriating yet Tucker has skillfully navigated her way through those issues to build a story that handles each delicately. She's crafted a story that is both thought provoking and suspenseful; one which the reader is not quite able to pinpoint what has actually happened until the very bitter end when the pieces of the puzzle are more closely locking together. While not the darkest it could be elements of The Promised World would certainly not e described as chipper or fluffy either. Tackling the subjects of suicide, abuse, and depression was something Tucker did deftly and with great sensitivity. She took the reader through the intricacies of the mind and allowed us to feel that angst and pain without sending us into the depths of despair ourselves.

Told through multiple points of view (Billy, Patrick, Lila, Billy's wife and children) it took me some time to get used to the voices jumping around from chapter to chapter. But once I did I enjoyed that we got a more rounded view of the story. I liked being able to see the events from the eyes of the most important people, I enjoyed hearing the perspective of the people involved as compared to being told assumptions about those same scenarios from other characters watching it happen.

About the only element I struggled with initially was Lila's seemingly unnatural attachment to Billy and subsequent disassociation from many other facets of her life and relationships. I found that at times it made her feel quite robotic, emotionless and cold. This is best exemplified by her interactions with her husband Patrick whom (early on) I didn't get the feeling that she loved very much. This, I know was by design, but until certain elements of the plot played out towards the end I didn't get the feeling she felt much more for him than companionship. He seemed to be more of a placeholder, or a means to an end, until she was able to be with Billy again. This characterization didn't ruin the story for me but I wish I felt some small traces of that love it turns out she had for her husband a bit earlier in the story.

Having said that I found this a well written and intriguing book that kept me on my toes throughout. I enjoyed the detailed viewpoints and portrayal of emotional upheaval a tragedy like this would inevitably create on the people in the lives of a love one lost. Furthermore, I was consistently interested in where the story was going and was truly rooting for Lila to come out of her depression healthy and happy.

I've been a fan of Lisa Tucker ever since The Song Reader, and while that's still my favorite, I found The Promised World to be incredibly readable.

Though the story focuses on Lila Cole and the aftermath of her twin brother Billy's suicide, Tucker also launches into the views of of Lila's husband, Patrick, and even Billy's young son, in one of the most believably written children's point of view I've ever read.

Lila has significant memory gaps from her childhood and her oddly entwined relationship with her twin means that the truth of their past is meted out slowly until a big (and, imho, confusing) rush at the end, but I never felt frustrated by the lack of disclosure. The characters are so warm and real and the writing so clean that I felt engaged despite how little of the "why" I understood.

I hope Lisa Tucker gets the recognition she deserves for this novel - it's enjoyable and readable; I tore through it in one night and it was well worth the sleep I sacrificed.

As "The Promised World" begins, Lila Cole learns that her twin brother Billy has committed suicide. Understandably, Lila is devastated by the news, all the more so since she and Billy had an especially close (even for twins) relationship. As is so often the case, a momentous tragedy like a suicide can disassemble the carefully-constructed worlds of those around it, and it doesn't take long for the world of Lila and her husband Patrick to begin to crumble. When she learns that Billy was accused of child abuse shortly before his death, and had visitation with his children taken away, Lila starts to fall to pieces. Struggling with the devastating loss she feels, Lila is also overwhelmed by fragments of memory that she's been suppressing. Patrick tries to help, but his attempts at learning more about Lila's family lead to the discovery that Lila's mother isn't in fact dead, as Lila's always told him -- and Patrick feels crushed and angry that Lila lied to him. The novel traces Lila and Patrick's attempts to unravel the secrets of Lila's past (and maybe give Patrick a bit of insight about his own parents?) while protecting Billy's three children when it isn't clear who is lying and who is telling the truth about Billy's alleged abuse. I won't spoil it for you by telling whether Lila and Patrick achieve some kind of resolution, as part of the novel's compelling hold on the reader is trying to figure out who is lying and who is telling the truth, who is a bad guy and who is a good guy (and who's a little of both). Easy to read, fast-moving, and if I found myself skimming some of the extended dream sequences, the rest of the book is engrossing enough to make up for it.