Product Description

From Lisa Tucker, the critically acclaimed author of Once Upon a Day and The Song Reader, comes an extraordinary novel about the way we live now: the choices we make and the decisions we let life make for us.

Matthew and Amelia were once in love and planning to raise a family together, but a decade later, they have become professional enemies. To Amelia, who has dedicated her life to medical ethics, Matthew's job as a high-powered pharmaceutical executive has turned him into a heartless person who doesn't care about anything but money. Now they're kept in balance only by Matthew's best and oldest friend, Ben, a rising science superstar -- and Amelia's new boyfriend.

That balance begins to crumble one night when, coming home to his upscale Philadelphia loft, Matthew finds himself on a desolate bridge face-to-face with a boy screaming for help. Homeless for most of his life, ten-year-old Danny is as streetwise as he is world-weary, and his desperation to save his three-year-old sister means he will do whatever it takes to get Matthew's help. What follows is an escalating game of one-upmanship between Matthew, Amelia, and Danny, as all three players struggle to defend what is most important to them -- and are ultimately forced to reconsider what they truly want.

Dazzlingly written with a riveting story that will resonate with readers everywhere, Lisa Tucker's The Cure for Modern Life is a smart, humorous, big-hearted novel about what it means in the twenty-first century to be responsible, to care about other people, and to do the right thing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76487 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-25
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Tucker offers a cure for modern readers seeking an enjoyable literary page-turner that also explores serious social issues such as addiction, ethics and genetics. Tucker's fourth and most ambitious novel (following Once Upon a Day) is her first to have a male protagonist. Sardonic and emotionally aloof, Matthew Connelly directs his energies away from romantic entanglements and toward his work as an executive at pharmaceutical giant Astor-Denning. His bitter ex-girlfriend, Amelia, works as a medical ethics watchdog and is poised to take Matthew and his company down. But the appearance of homeless 10-year-old Danny and his toddler sister shakes up the lives of the combustible pair. In crisp, lively prose, Tucker cleverly executes a series of surprising twists that, coupled with the Big Pharma backdrop and cinematic feel, make the novel as fast-paced as a thriller, but with astute and often humorous observations about the shifting morality of 21st-century America. The relationship dilemmas at the center of this story make it an excellent choice for book clubs, but the novel should also increase Tucker's male readership and solidify her position as a gifted writer with a wide range and a profound sense of compassion for the mysteries of the human heart. (Mar. 25)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"An enjoyable literary page-turner that also explores serious social issues. In crisp, lively prose, Tucker cleverly executes a series of surprising twists that, coupled with the Big Pharma backdrop and cinematic feel, make the novel as fast-paced as a thriller, but with astute and often humorous observations about the shifting morality of 21st-century America. An excellent choice for book clubs...solidifies her position as a gifted writer with a wide range and a profound sense of compassion for the mysteries of the human heart."-- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A touching and very modern relationship story with some compelling social issues...This fast-paced, funny, and smart novel is a sure bet for book clubs."-- Booklist

"An inspiring, twisting story of redemption, forgiveness and morality." -Romantic Times

"An emotionally satisfying page-turner."-- Good Housekeeping

"The Cure for Modern Life is so inviting because it's about people we all know, or at least think we know - Tucker deftly forces us to ponder what we'd do in this exploration of the complexity of human nature and our relationships with one another." -- The Salt Lake Tribune

"Tucker's book works because she knows how to limn characters, tell a story economically, and propel it at just the right allegro-vivace tempo." -- The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Lisa Tucker, once again, brings a fresh view to the intricacies of relationships in "The Cure for Modern Life"...Tucker continues to grow as a writer, and "The Cure for Modern Life" gives readers some ethical questions to ponder. It's an approach that has long been Jodi Picoult territory, but Tucker comes at it from a different direction. The questions aren't the source of the plot, but they drive the relationships among central characters. It's a structure that should make the novel attractive to book groups who've enjoyed Picoult's work." -- The Denver Post

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One

The Kindness of Strangers

Was Matthew Connelly a bad man? He'd never once asked himself that question. Make of it what you will. Of course it would have surprised him to know that, as he walked toward the bridge that night, a little boy was asking the question for him. Because Matthew didn't notice people like this boy, he never wondered what they were thinking about, or if they thought at all. They were as invisible as the ants he'd crushed under his feet as he walked through the streets of Grand Cayman the weekend before, with Amelia and Ben, the happy couple, deliriously grateful to have found each other, all demons of the past behind them -- and all thanks to him. His matchmaking was a good deed from their point of view, pure and simple. To Matthew it was something else entirely, something he didn't dwell on but accepted as another delicate operation in an extremely complex job.

The boy watching Matthew, who gave his name as Timmy or Jacob or Danny, depending on the situation, was only ten years old, but his mother said he was closer to forty in his harsh judgments of other people, by which she usually meant his harsh judgments of herself. And it was true; the boy took an almost instant dislike to Matthew Connelly. It wasn't just that the guy looked too young to be so filthy rich, with a fancy topcoat that had to cost more than it had cost to feed Isabelle for her entire life, or even that he was obviously in a hurry, striding up Walnut Street like he had somewhere important to be, though it was way past midnight. It wasn't even the loud, idiotic singing the man was indulging in as he walked, as though no one could possibly be outside on that frigid November night in Philadelphia except Connelly himself, who no doubt considered the journey a reason to pat himself on the back that he was always up for a little exercise. No, the real thing that condemned him, from the boy's perspective, was the position of his hands, which were jammed so far into his pockets that all you could see were the tops of what surely were the most luxurious leather gloves sold on the planet. So he wasn't cold, which meant there was only one reason his hands were like that. He was a selfish person, the kind who wouldn't lift a finger to help anyone else. The kind of person his mother called a "natural-born Republican bastard," even though she didn't believe in her son's hands theory, preferring instead the simpler principle that all rich people were bastards.

Still, the boy, who ended up naming himself Danny that night, had no choice; he had to try. He grabbed three-year-old Isabelle in his arms, groaning under her weight, and ran up the concrete stairs as fast as his scrawny ten-year-old legs would carry him. He had to be standing on the bridge when the man got there, blocking his path. As the guy came closer, Danny proceeded to yell and scream and cry: "Help! Please, mister! My baby sister! Help!"

The tears weren't real because he never cried, but the fear made his frozen hands shake harder. Isabelle had been throwing up all day and his mother had told him a million times that if you throw up for too long, you can die. Protecting Isabelle was his sacred duty and he would do it no matter what, even if he had to die himself. It was part of the code of honor he'd adopted a few months after his sister was born, when he'd sworn himself in as a knight. This was after he'd read a book about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, which his mother had stolen for him from the library, but he wasn't playing some stupid pretend game. Even the book said that knights weren't only in the past, and anyone could be one. True, the boy had never met another knight, but that wasn't surprising since knights had to sacrifice everything to uphold the code, and that was hard, even for him. But whenever he wanted to renounce his knighthood and go back to being a regular kid, he remembered his honor and how no one could take it away from him -- not his mother, not the cops, and certainly not this selfish asshole who wasn't going to stop, Danny knew, no matter how much he begged.

That Danny turned out to be wrong had nothing to do with his ability to judge men like Matthew Connelly. On that particular night, there was something about Matthew that even a very wise, very hardened ten-year-old boy/knight couldn't guess from the man's appearance. The rest, Danny had gotten right, uncannily so. It was true that Matthew was what most anybody would call rich, given his upper-six-figure salary; his stock options at Astor-Denning, the pharmaceutical company where he was a VP; the top-of-the-line Porsche 911 he'd bought with last year's bonus; his property investments across the city -- though he was leasing the loft where he'd lived for the last two years, an upscale but not intimidating place, perfect for his friendships with scientists. It was also true that he was walking quickly, not because he had a flight to Tokyo in the morning, which he'd put out of his mind, but because it felt good to move; not as wonderful as it had on the dance floor, but still good. The idiotic humming was a carry-away from the club he'd just left, a way of remembering the woman he might have taken home with him if this were a normal night, yet it had been anything but.

At seven-thirty he'd gone out to dinner with a nationally known med school professor who'd agreed to testify before the FDA on behalf of Astor-Denning's new diabetes drug. Matthew's goal was to make this guy happy, to give him the right food, the right wine, the right conversation, even, if necessary, the right women. But the only thing the good doctor really wanted was to try MDMA: ecstasy. He was recently divorced; he thought he needed a drug that would "release" his emotions about his ex-wife. Matthew agreed to make a few phone calls, though he hoped he wouldn't have to listen to the guy's emotions as they were released. When the doc insisted that they try the drug together, Matthew's first reaction was to smile and nod and decide he wouldn't swallow it. The illegal part didn't bother him, but he didn't want to lose control of the meeting. But then the doc said they'd know they were "tripping" when their pupils dilated, and Matthew realized it might not be easy to fool this doc, even if the guy was high. Whatever happened, he could not let this important contact decide he was a liar. What the hell. The E was pure, according to his source, and he had a brilliant medical professor at his side. What could go wrong?

The fiftysomething, fat, balding doc had had the time of his life, running around the club, groping one woman after another, telling each of them, "I know I'm on X, but the way I feel about you is so intense, it has to be real." Matthew was much more subdued, but he enjoyed the experience, too. And he felt proud that he'd forced himself to leave the club alone -- after the doc left with some blonde -- even though the pill was still working, knowing it would give him a cheerful walk home, which, damn, he needed for a change. The trip to the Caymans last weekend, meetings and conference calls and putting out fires all day, wining and dining research partners five nights out of seven: all of this was making him feel unusually tired, though he was determined to prove that nothing had changed, despite the fact that he'd just turned forty. He was in great shape. He could always party like it's 1999, even if that particular phrase was one he kept to himself, fearing it would date him with the hot twentysomethings he invariably found himself attracted to rather than women his own age.

With the pill's help, he floated painlessly down thirty-one blocks from Old City to the bridge, no side effects except a little teeth-chattering. He lived on the West Philly side of the river to enhance his intellectual cred with academics, but the loft scored him points for being hip, too, because uptight people were afraid to live there even though the building was more like a suburban gated community than an edgy inner-city neighborhood, and his Porsche was probably safer there than anywhere in the city. Walking on the Walnut Street Bridge at night did make him a little nervous, which was why he usually took a cab home, but now nothing bothered him, not even some screaming kid standing near the stairs to the river.

When he reached the kid, he noticed the boy was holding what looked like a bundle of clothes, except that it was making sounds like a kitten (or were they words? Whatever it was, that sound was so sweet), and Matthew found himself bursting into a smile. "Can I hold it?" he said, pointing at the bundle.

He just wanted to see what could make that brook sound, but the dirty boy wasn't cool. He frowned and said, "What? Are you a perv or something?"

Matthew wasn't sure why, but the question made him feel so happy he started laughing. "No, I'm not," Matthew said, still grinning. "Am I supposed to be?"

The boy cursed under his breath. "You're drunk."

"Wrong again," Matthew said, and then he blurted out something he would never have told another adult, especially in his condition, given his strict policy of avoiding emotional entanglements. "I'll have you know that my father died of cirrhosis of the liver. I am not now and have never been drunk. So there." He stuck his arm out, pointing one finger playfully at the kid. "Take that!"

The boy looked away then, lost in thought, but Matthew was too busy trying to see over the top of the bundle to care what the dirty kid was thinking about. Even if he'd known the kid was thinking about drugs, he wouldn't have cared. What was the boy going to do, have him arrested for swallowing his first-ever tab of E? After a minute, Matthew said, pointing at the bundle, thrilled that he'd figured it out, "It's a little girl!"

"Duh," the kid said. "It's Isabelle, my sister." He pulled the blanket down just enough to expose the largest blackest eyes Matthew had ever seen. Doll eyes.

"She doesn't look like you," Matthew said. The little girl was a light brown color, while the boy was chalky pale, even under the...

Customer Reviews

Unevenly written but has redeeming qualities
There were several bright spots in this book. First, every chapter from the point of view of the child, Danny, is amazing. Ms. Tucker has perfectly captured the voice of a young boy who has been forced to grow up too fast, becoming extremely street-smart but lacking formal education. The Danny chapters are inspired, as Danny has enough presence and personality as a character that I wish this entire book had been written in his voice. Second, the subject matter that Ms. Tucker has approached with the storyline is not your ordinary fare. I personally enjoy books that attempt to be about more than "just" a plot or storyline. The Cure for Modern Life delivers several intriguing ethical and moral questions through the use of the plot devices. Even better, Ms. Tucker does not allow those questions to be resolved with any certainty by the end of the book. She seems to understand that ethical quandries have more than one right answer and she allows the book to end without tying up all of the loose threads, or telling the reader how to feel about it all.

The characters of Matthew, Amelia, and Ben were interesting as bodily incarnations of the different facets of the ethical questions raised by Big Pharma research. Unfortunately, at points in the plot the themes seem to take precedent over these characters. Notably, there were several plot points that were presented with no character-driven motivation or explanation other than that the story demanded that action at that time. It is jarring and a bit annoying to interrupt an otherwise smooth storyline with a twist that comes out of nowhere, isn't explained, and doesn't fit at all with a character's previous personality.

Finally, the writing style and quality is inconsistent. As noted above, the chapters from Danny's point of view are sparkling gems. They read as if they flowed effortlessly from a place of creative inspiration. The chapters from Amelia's point of view are at least mostly cohesive. But the chapters from Matthew's perspective seemed to have been squeezed by force out of the author. At some points the author even seems to waste the reader's time by describing mundane events that have nothing at all to do with the rest of the book. These pages are glaringly inconsistent with the tone of the rest of the book. It is as if, when writing in Matthew's voice, the author perhaps encountered writer's block and attempted to remedy it by writing whatever rambling thoughts came to mind, but forgot to edit out the irrelevent parts in the end.

Overall, I would recommend that the reader find this book at their local library to fill the down hours of a long summer vacation; enjoy the Danny chapters; ponder the state of pharmaceutical business in America; and try to ignore the possibility that another round of editing might have produced a far superior book.

Disappointed.
I could not believe this was the same author honestly. This book was so far fetched, predictable and sappy. I am glad I got from the library and did not invest any money in it. I hardly believe anyone has the power to get free rehab for a complete stranger at a pricey posh place. Letting two homeless kids live in your apartment and then end up with custody of them after all that? And then getting your ex girlfriend back with the generous gift of your best friends baby she is carrying? Ridiculous, really. Yes, fiction should take us away from real life, but this was just silly in my opinion.

Good characters - story a little lacking
My first book review since high school - oh, boy! Before I start though, I have to ask why so many of these reviews do nothing else but give a synopsis of the plot line? Isn't that already done above? And what's the point of giving the story away before people read the book? Just say what's good or bad and that's it

So here's mine - great character development, but story line gets a little convoluted sometimes. Lisa Tucker does a good job here of putting you into different character's mindsets, especially a homeless 10 year old boy abandoned in the city with his little sister by their crack addict mom. That might not seem like the premise for an optimistic and cheering story, but this is. I'd recommend it, and might read some of her earlier stuff too.