Synopses & Reviews
Lisa Tucker captures the hidden heart of the modern family. In her widely acclaimed novels, she has established her unique gift for depicting the bewildering nature of love, the poignant quest to belong, and the deep desire for a place to call home.
Now from the bestselling author of The Cure for Modern Life and Once Upon a Day comes a riveting story of suspense about a literature professor whose carefully constructed life is shattered after the death of her twin brother and the unraveling of the secret world they shared.
On a March afternoon, while Lila Cole is working in her quiet office, her twin brother Billy points an unloaded rifle out of a hotel window, closing down a city block. Suicide by police was obviously Billy's intended result, but the aftermath of his death brings shock after shock for Lila when she discovers that her brilliant but troubled twin -- the person she revered and was closer to than anyone in the world -- was not only estranged from his wife, but also charged with endangering the life of his middle child and namesake, eight-year-old William.
As Lila struggles to figure out what was truth and what was fiction in her brother's complicated past, her job, her marriage, and even her sanity will be put at risk. And when the hidden meaning behind Billy's stories comes to light, she will have to act before Billy's children are destroyed by the same heartbreaking reality that shattered her protector and twin more than twenty years ago.
A love song to the redemptive power ofbooks and stories, The Promised World is a mesmerizing tale of intimacy, betrayal, and lost innocence that will haunt readers long after they have turned the final page.
Review
"Tucker is a riveting storyteller whose book brims with a cathartic intelligence about the dark side of families and how we survive." -- People
Synopsis
Tucker pens a provocative novel about a woman whose seemingly perfect life unravels when her twin brother commits suicide after he is accused of child abuse.
Synopsis
Lisa Tucker is the author of The Song Reader and Shout Down the Moon; she has also published short work in Seventeen, Pages, and The Oxford American. She has advanced degrees in English and math, and has taught creative writing at the Taos Conference and UCLA. Lisa lives in Pennsylvania and New Mexico with her husband and son. Visit her website at www.lisatucker.com.
Synopsis
From the bestselling author of The Cure for Modern Life and Once Upon a Day comes a riveting novel of suspense about a literature professor whose carefully constructed life is shattered after the death of her twin brother and the unraveling of the secret world they shared.On a March afternoon, while Lila Cole is working in her quiet office, her twin brother Billy points an unloaded rifle out of a hotel window across from an elementary school, closing down a city block. “Suicide by police” was obviously Billy’s intended result, but the aftermath of his death brings shock after shock for Lila when she discovers that her twin— the person she thought she was closer to than anyone in the world—was not only estranged from his wife, but also charged with endangering the life of his middle child and namesake, eightyear- old William. Lila’s quest for answers puts her job, her marriage, and even her sanity at risk as she begins to learn the horrible truth about her family. When Billy’s children are in danger of repeating the twins’ tragic past, all of the characters will have to confront their own complicity and recognize the deep guilt that always tortured Billy even as he spun a beautiful dream of the future from the stories he loved—a classic American myth of redemption and second chances. Compulsively readable and empathetically written in Tucker’s artful prose, The Promised World is an epic tale of intimacy, betrayal, and lost innocence that will haunt readers long after they turn the final page.
About the Author
Lisa Tucker is the bestselling author of The Promised World, The Cure for Modern Life, Once Upon a Day, Shout Down the Moon and The Song Reader. Her short work has appeared in Seventeen, Pages and The Oxford American. She lives in Pennsylvania with her family.