Once Upon a Day

by Lisa Tucker

Book Overview

From the internationally acclaimed, bestselling author of Shout Down the Moon and The Song Readers comes a wise, humorous, and deeply compassionate story about the risks and rewards of loving when a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743492781
• ISBN13: 9780743492782
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.1" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Never in my life....

....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.

Powerful Story!!

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!!!!!!

An exploration of family dysfunction in fiction that could be a True Hollywood Story

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...

Terrific Novel

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.

Warning: Will keep you up all night

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!