Stories that begin “once upon a time” turn on the fallout from a random event more than on the natural consequences growing from character and action: A spindle’s pinprick puts the princess into a slumber that can be relieved only by a worthy prince; the glass slipper, conjured by a fairy godmother, is abandoned as the beauty flees the ball; children become lost in a forest after birds eat their trail of bread crumbs.
So it is with Lisa Tucker’s new novel, “Once Upon a Day.” Fate has handed each of her central characters a tragic surprise, and each, in his or her own way, is trying to muddle through the life that remains. Salvation, in this case, lies in the hands of caring strangers.
Stephen Spaulding was a very happy man before his tragedy struck. The doctor lost his wife and daughter in a freak car accident, a high-speed police chase that spun out of control. He has traded his medical practice for a taxicab. Good luck, dressed like something out of the 1950s, arrives for him when a young woman steps out of the St. Louis bus station and into his cab.
Dorothea O’Brien is a naif, nearly 23 years old. For 19 years, she has been sheltered within the confines of the Sanctuary, a 35-acre spread straddling the Colorado-New Mexico border. Her primary human contacts have been her paternal grandmother, now dead, her brother and her father, now dying. She’s trying to track down her brother, Jimmy, who fled from home to taste the larger world.
The O’Brien children were raised in smothering safety. Their father, Charles, controlled their lives obsessively and completely, explaining that their safety was his only goal. Money was never an issue and he provided plenty of books, but forbade any contact with the outside world. Dorothea’s knowledge of history stops at 1960, after which her father believed the world became too corrupt. She hasn’t watched television or listened to the radio. She hasn’t seen the Internet. She travels to St. Louis dressed in a long flared black skirt, a fluffy pink sweater, ankle socks and saddle shoes.
Stephen agrees to help Dorothea find her brother. Her list of previous addresses takes them to seedy parts of the city where people remember “Crazy Jimmy,” but have no idea where he might be. On a hunch, Stephen takes Dorothea to the psychiatric ward of a hospital where Jimmy is indeed a patient, admitted as a threat to himself.
The narrative initially alternates between a third-person account of Stephen’s life and a first-person description of Dorothea’s own. Tucker doesn’t dwell on Stephen’s tragedy, but rather on his general kindness. It is through this willingness to help others that he will ultimately find the comfort he needs. And the choice to have Dorothea tell her story is a good one. Dorothea’s upbringing is quite unusual, but she doesn’t see it that way. Her innocence, her naiveté and, ultimately, her love for and loyalty to her family are attributes of a strong and strongly believable character.
Jimmy’s vivid dreams, a holdover from childhood, are fueling his self-destruction. As Dorothea talks to Stephen about ways to help her brother, she remembers more of her past. She knows her family didn’t always live at the Sanctuary; she was 4 and Jimmy was 6 when they moved there. It becomes clear, as Dorothea tries to unearth details about her dead mother, that their previous life in California is tied to what is happening currently. But Charles O’Brien needs to reveal the family secrets, something he never has been willing to do.
Tucker adds a third strand to the narrative, one involving a once-famous Hollywood actress and her search for her long-missing children. The twining of past and present reveals how and why life at the Sanctuary evolved.
Tucker raises great questions about the nature of parental and marital responsibility. There is a line between love and obsession, but the exact moment it is crossed is difficult to determine. Tucker makes both sides of the line understandable and, in doing so, debatable.
“Once Upon a Day” is readable, full of enjoyable characters, discussable and therefore bound to be a popular book- group pick.
Robin Vidimos is a freelance writer who reviews books for The Denver Post and Buzz in the ‘Burbs.
Once Upon A Day
By Lisa Tucker
Atria, 342 pages, $24
