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4th out of 100 books
—
3 voters
Once Upon a Day
by
Lisa Tucker (Goodreads Author)
Nineteen years ago, a famous filmmaker disappeared from Los Angeles, taking his two children, Dorothea and Jimmy, to a desolate corner of New Mexico. There he raised them in complete isolation without television, computer, radio -- not even a newspaper. Now, at twenty-three, Dorothea leaves in search of her missing brother -- and ventures into the outside world for the fir...more
Paperback, 368 pages
Published
May 15th 2007
by Washington Square Press
(first published April 1st 2006)
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I'm giving this book a "wow!" right off the bat. It's about a young woman who, along with her brother, has been raised in complete isolation by their eccentric father. When her brother leaves home and she goes after him, secrets about their past come to light, but not in the way I expected at first. There's a romantic subplot as well, where the girl meets a damaged man, which is satisfying if you're willing to deal with some serious suspension of disbelief (I was). Anyway, I really enjoyed this...more
I accidently stumbled upon this book (which doesn't happen often enough) and of-course read it in a heart beat (3h).
The story is not unheard of, but still interesting. It follows a couple of grown up siblings who were raised on an isolated part of land and now are discovering the world for the first time. The story also follows up on the life of their mother before they were born ( she was some famous actress) and the events that lead to their isolation.
All in all, it's not a bad story, again, j...more
The story is not unheard of, but still interesting. It follows a couple of grown up siblings who were raised on an isolated part of land and now are discovering the world for the first time. The story also follows up on the life of their mother before they were born ( she was some famous actress) and the events that lead to their isolation.
All in all, it's not a bad story, again, j...more
I blew through this one even though it wasn't particularly great. The premise hooked me: two teenage children living in seclusion with an overly paternalistic father in the nether regions of New Mexico. The plot suspensfully unfolds and unfolds and unfolds.....when we meet a mysterious widowed cab driver and exMD, get wind of the possibility that the children may have been kidnapped by their father,who it turns out was a famous Hollywood director of westerns with an unusual penchant for the 1950...more
This was a really good and interesting book. The story is basically about a girl and brother who were raised in seclusion away from everyone by their father. The boy decides to go off into the world away from their secluded life, the sister goes after the brother some time afterwards. The sister meets a man who helps her find her brother and they learn some secrets about their past. There is romance, mystery, suspense, all rolled into this book and we learn just how far some parents are willing...more
I was so hopeful about this book. The first chapters were very interesting and had me eager to read more. The book is told from the POV of several different characters. The second is Dorothea, a young woman who grew up isolated from society. I enjoyed reading about her adventures learning about the outside world. Then the book went on to some other narrators and the backstory in CA went on way too long for me. I think it could've benefitted from some serious editing. I also found a few of the tu...more
This novel, by Lisa Tucker, has a great "what if" premise: "What if you were raised in complete isolation, protected from every possible threat, and then suddenly had to cope with the modern world?" Of course, the plot is rather more complicated than that, and with the viewpoint shifting from time to time, it's hard to know where to start. With Stephen the cab driver? Or Dorothea, who knows only Father, Jimmy, and Grandma for as long as she can remember? Or Lucy, whose fairy-tale life took a tra...more
*SPOILER ALERT*
A fast, addicting read. Somewhat unbelievable at times, how could Charles do something like this and how could he possibly get away with it considering how famous he was? And how is Dorothea so accepting of everything so easily; her father, the modern world, a relationship with a man that she just met, the truth about her family? Nonetheless, I found each character so interesting and wanted to read more and more about each of them. It was hard not to feel the pain and the happines...more
A fast, addicting read. Somewhat unbelievable at times, how could Charles do something like this and how could he possibly get away with it considering how famous he was? And how is Dorothea so accepting of everything so easily; her father, the modern world, a relationship with a man that she just met, the truth about her family? Nonetheless, I found each character so interesting and wanted to read more and more about each of them. It was hard not to feel the pain and the happines...more
After reading Lisa Tucker's recent A Cure For Modern Life, I promised I would make my life happier by reading more of her novels. And I did. Once Upon A Day was my next dip into her oeuvre.
Dorothea and her brother Jimmy are the children of Charles O'Brien, and never, in Dorothea's memory, have they stepped one toe outside The Sanctuary, their beautiful, reclusive New Mexico home. Charles keeps them safe there, safe from everything from sunburns to corrupt pop culture. Finally Jimmy has had enoug...more
Dorothea and her brother Jimmy are the children of Charles O'Brien, and never, in Dorothea's memory, have they stepped one toe outside The Sanctuary, their beautiful, reclusive New Mexico home. Charles keeps them safe there, safe from everything from sunburns to corrupt pop culture. Finally Jimmy has had enoug...more
3 and 1/2 stars.
Though not at all bad, I would say this is a Standard Adult Book (and there are also Standard Young Adult books, of course). It reminds me a lot of The Memory Keeper's Daughter.
Like, there's not *much* wrong with it, but it's all so tropish. Death, Lies, Booze. Isolation. Kind of like Room (but not as awesome), kind of like (as I said) Memory Keeper's Daughter.
It's not terrible, not at all, but it's also not particularly special. Dorothea and Stephen's relationship is, in my op...more
Though not at all bad, I would say this is a Standard Adult Book (and there are also Standard Young Adult books, of course). It reminds me a lot of The Memory Keeper's Daughter.
Like, there's not *much* wrong with it, but it's all so tropish. Death, Lies, Booze. Isolation. Kind of like Room (but not as awesome), kind of like (as I said) Memory Keeper's Daughter.
It's not terrible, not at all, but it's also not particularly special. Dorothea and Stephen's relationship is, in my op...more
I enjoyed this book becuase it started out with an interesting scenario of a father, his son and daughter living in total isolation away from all the things that can "hurt" some one in the real world, and unfolded backwards. Your immediatly questioning why they are living in such a isolated world and what could have happend to force them to live like this. You sort of go back in time with the characters to find out about thier history and past lives of thier mom and dad in order to save thier ow...more
I liked Once Upon A Day because it was a quick read and it kept me interested throughout. The idea of growing up in such isolation was fascinating and I liked how the author showed the different effects of this upbringing in the two characters. I felt like the author got tired at the end though and didn't finish the book very realistically. In summary, it was worth the read and I liked the idea of one day completely changing all of the characters' lives.
My love affair with Lisa Tucker's writing style all began with a .99 Kindle book, Agoraphobics In Love. Tucker builds a story with the perfect pace all while the characters are dealing with a life changing event or events. Another characteristic of Tucker's writing is that there is more than one major story going at once but one assists in developing the other. The best way for me to describe it is that it is "simple complexity."
We begin the story with Stephen Spaulding who comes across as a bi...more
We begin the story with Stephen Spaulding who comes across as a bi...more
A few weeks ago, I visited our local library. People had told me that it was quite lovely and had recently been renovated. I was also excited to find out if they have a book club. When I entered the building, I signed up for a library card which I always think is fun . (I know NERD alert!) I asked about the book club and found out that there is a book club which meets on the last Wednesday of the month. They also had a copy of the book which had just been returned. Even though I was not sure if...more
This was a riveting book! I had no idea what it was about when I picked it up but was enthralled by the mystery surrounding a man who takes his children away from their mother and raises them as if they were living in the fifites. I didn't enjoy the swearing or the descriptions of relations but I loved the complexity of the characters. This wasn't a clear-cut good/evil character book. They were actual people with mixed reactions to the situations in which they found themselves. I also enjoyed ho...more
Audio Book disclaimer -
I really liked it, my sister, however, HATED it. Made me want to run away into the wilderness (though I would absolutely NEVER choose the high desert), but also made me never want to have kids. Like I need any encouragement here :) It's been a while, too long to be writing a review probably, but I remember struggling with the relationship between the daughter and savior, too mushy and predictably they had a "no strings, no expecataions, whatever" attitude, which no in rea...more
I really liked it, my sister, however, HATED it. Made me want to run away into the wilderness (though I would absolutely NEVER choose the high desert), but also made me never want to have kids. Like I need any encouragement here :) It's been a while, too long to be writing a review probably, but I remember struggling with the relationship between the daughter and savior, too mushy and predictably they had a "no strings, no expecataions, whatever" attitude, which no in rea...more
This novel requires considerable suspension of disbelief. However, the most unbelievable part of it -- that a father would kidnap his children and raise them in complete isolation -- is actually based on a real news story I remember from several years ago, proving once again that truth is stranger than fiction. To me, the most interesting part of this story is that Tucker manages to keep the father from being a monster; what he did was reprehensible, but he's not demonized. Even so, I found most...more
I really liked this book. It is a well developed story, written from several characters' point of view, about how the events of the past have effected the present of one character. Dorothea has grown up in isolation, kept hidden from the real world because her father wants to protect her from the dangers he sees everywhere because of a terrible event that destroyed his peace of mind and later, his marriage. Dorothea thinks that her mother is dead, but she discovers that her father actually stole...more
An absolutely beautiful story. Hard to believe that a group of people could sustain so much damage, physically, psychologically, and emotionally and still find each other and find love in the process. The story moves back in forth in time, and slowly brings the whole narrative together into a cohesive, stunning whole. It demonstrates that trying to fully protect the ones you love from harm inflicts its own damage in so many ways. While isolation may seem to reduce the chances of outside forces d...more
I realize I keep giving four and five-star reviews to the books I've read---partly because I keep hitting on good ones, and partly because it's just so nice to be reading regularly again. This book was a lucky find at the library on the audiobook shelf (I highly recommend the audio version). The plot is full of twists and turns---I was so hooked, I kept finding chores to do around the house so I could keep listening.
There is a violent crime in the novel (a warning for those of you with weak sto...more
There is a violent crime in the novel (a warning for those of you with weak sto...more
Jul 26, 2011
John Harder
added it
Tucker’s Once Upon a Day is a total chick book – but not a bad one at that. The novel is really two parallel stories chronicling the lives of a mother and a daughter. The mother’s life is radically changed by a single incident, the daughter’s lover has a similar incident. These singular occurrences have tentacles that reach out and affect all the character’s futures in both a sublime and traumatic fashion. The daughter, Dorothea, by the way is charming.
Be prepared, the characters blather on endl...more
Be prepared, the characters blather on endl...more
This book has a very unusual plot and is a little hard to get into. I almost gave up on it, and not sure now if I'm glad I didn't. The book contains parallel stories of a young woman who leaves an abusive home and marries a rich Hollywood director, and another young woman and her brother who are raised in seclusion by their father, who is afraid something bad will happen to them if they are exposed to the outside world. A former doctor who became a taxi driver after his wife and child were kille...more
"Inclined to say that this was similar to Room in the whole "how weird would it be to grow up like that" kind of way or the best of Jodi Picoult in the "what the heck happened" kind of way." - Tamara, Web Content Librarian
Reserve a library copy!
Reserve a library copy!
Amazing book about what it takes to become a family. I highly recommend it to anyone, however, do not read the back because I feel it gives away too much of the book.
Nov 29, 2010
Heather
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
beach readers
Recommended to Heather by:
Flannery
Shelves:
adult
Another beach read (after my just-finished Sister's Keeper). It was nothing special but just good enough to keep things interesting and make me want to finish it. I was almost going to give it 3 stars, but then when I thought about how ridiculous the characters/plot were I decided to downgrade. (the father who has the crazy reaction to trauma and was really unrealistically weird/crazy even before that; the kids who grew up w/no social contact and then somehow were able to negotiate the world w/j...more
1 like · like · see review
I enjoy the way Lisa develops the characters - the book drug a little in a couple of places but overall it moved along. The story is about two children who are raised by their dad and grandmother in a very nice home in the middle of nowhere New Mexico. They had no friends, no school, no TV, no interaction with anyone other than those two.
One day the boy at age 20 something decides he has had enough and leaves. Then the story begins to take shape.
The only think I don't like about Lisa Tucker's b...more
One day the boy at age 20 something decides he has had enough and leaves. Then the story begins to take shape.
The only think I don't like about Lisa Tucker's b...more
Needless to say since I gave it 5 stars, I really liked this book. There are few books that I say I can't put down, but this is one that I really couldn't put down. The book had everything, mystery, romance, suspense, weirdness. Each character had a story and each story wove into and out of the next. It is a story about love; romantic, friendship and parental. The story contains minutes of violence and moments of healing; years of wondering and days of realization. There is sanity and insanity;...more
Read the large print editions which I am beginning to find easier on my eyes. At times whiled reading I thought this is a silly book about a sister searching for her brother. I was wrong. It is about a couples falling apart, what we will do to protect our children, mental health, hope and redemption. Once incidence on any given day can change our lives for ever. These incidences can be good, bad, horrible, or cordial. This book is also about all those a a couple more coincidences." These read is...more
Wow! It has been a long, long time since a character has got my heart rate racing like this. This is a story of a woman who's life has been altered completely when her husband disappears with her two children. The father raised the children states away in a secluded homestead call 'The Sanctuary.' When the eldest child begins questioning memories of the past and is voluntarily committed to a psych ward in St. Louis, the youngest child begins a quest for answers. She wants to protect her brother...more
Tucker's outstanding novel (after Shout Down the Moon) is as structurally dextrous as it is emotionally satisfying, boasting a chorus of extraordinary voices and assured parallel plot lines separated by four decades. In the present day, 23-year-old Dorothea has left her overprotective father's secluded 35-acre New Mexico estate, called the Sanctuary, where she and her brother, Jimmy, had been sheltered from current news and all modern-day innovations. Searching for her runaway brother in St. Lou...more
Jan 06, 2012
BoekenTrol
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Moeshell
I would normally not have given this book a second thought, but when checking wishlists, I came across is and thought I'd buy this book for one of my BC-friends. I wanted to read it before sending it out, but did not get to it last year, so (after checking wishlist again) I read it now and will be sending it to her.
What I think of this book? Well, it is not a difficult read. From the blurp on the back cover I had my reservations if I'd like it, but what is written there is not what I read in th...more
What I think of this book? Well, it is not a difficult read. From the blurp on the back cover I had my reservations if I'd like it, but what is written there is not what I read in th...more
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Lisa Tucker is the author of six novels: The Winters in Bloom, coming this September; The Song Reader, Shout Down the Moon, Once Upon a Day, The Cure for Modern Life, and The Promised World.
Her books have been published in twelve countries and selected for Borders Original Voices, Book of the Month Club, the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, People magazine Critic’s Choice, Redbook Book Club, A...more
More about Lisa Tucker...
Her books have been published in twelve countries and selected for Borders Original Voices, Book of the Month Club, the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, People magazine Critic’s Choice, Redbook Book Club, A...more
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“Off course, if Steven had a wife in the attic, like Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre, that, I thought, would be another matter entirely. But the very idea made me laugh. His building had no attic, and his one small closet couldn't even hold a skeleton. It was too packed with clothes, his and mine.”
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Nov 29, 2010 11:13am