All Rileyed Up

The Cure for Modern Life is Lisa Tucker’s fourth book. And for the fourth time, I’ve enjoyed reading a novel by her.

The Cure for Modern Life is the story of Matthew Connelly, a top exec at a pharmaceutical company and several of his friendships: Amelia, the only woman he ever loved, who is determined to take down pharmaceutical companies in general, for their manipulation of the medical industry and pushing of prescription drugs (hey, who can blame her); Ben, his best friend and a skilled scientist who, shall we say, isn’t so good with the ladies—or for that matter, anything that isn’t science; and Danny and Isabelle, the sweet children of a heroin addict who enter Matthew’s life one random night on the Walnut Street Bridge.

I first learned of Lisa Tucker when I signed up for a Beginning Novel Writing class with her through the UCLA Extension. One of the first things she emphasized was the importance of the first sentence, the first paragraph, the first three pages, and finally, the first chapter, all of which we submitted in increments.

So let’s look at her first chapter. The opening line? “Was Matthew Connelly a bad man?” Does it set the stage for the novel? Yup. This novel goes around and around on the question, “What constitutes ‘good’? That could keep you up every night for the rest of your life: what is good? What is doing good? Who are you to decide what is and is not good? When a drug can heal some but hurt others, what does that make it? Good? Bad? Neither? How do you answer the question do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (cue the ending to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn)?

I love that this novel begins with such a simple sentence, and a question too. Because you will read this whole book wondering if Matthew Connelly is, in fact, a bad man. Which brings up another interesting aspect of this novel, and another thing they like to teach in beginning writing classes. Is your protagonist likeable? What about the supporting characters? Are they likeable? Do you root for them? These characters all have such strong flaws, there are times when I just want to reach into the book and wring their necks, but then they come back and remind me that hey, you’re not perfect either. We’re all only human. They get rash when they shouldn’t and over-reflective when they needn’t. I love how human they are.

There are few authors that I can say I’ve read everything by them. I’m glad I came across Lisa while she still had only two books out. It was easy to get up to speed and now I can read along with her. Her books have gotten better with each one. I feel like her characters’ complexities get more in-depth with each book. They always revolve around hardships experienced during childhood and the need for love—sometimes giving it, sometimes rejecting it. The Cure for Modern Life is another fascinating journey into the human desire to be accepted for who they are, problems and all.

So go on and read it. Love Lisa. I sure do.

Things to know:

Buy the book here.

Go to Lisa’s website here.

Lisa’s other books: The Song Reader, Shout Down from the Moon, Once Upon a Day .

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