As part of the Mother Talk book tour, I recently read The Cure for Modern Life by Lisa Tucker. The Cure for Modern Life is a “novel about what it means in the twenty-first century to be responsible, to care about other people, and to do the right thing.”

The Cure for Modern Life has a lot of interesting story lines, all of which tie together for a really great read. There are several characters who’s lives intertwine together. Throughout the book we meet Matthew, Amelia, Ben, Danny and Isabelle who make us realize that sometimes we need to look at our lives from a different perspective.

Amelia and Matthew were once college sweethearts planning to get married and raise a family, but years later they have become bitter enemies. Amelia dedicated her life to medical ethics and Matthew is an executive at a big pharmaceutical company. Amelia believes Matthew cares more about money then the health and safety of their consumers.

Amelia and Matthew are tied together by Matthew’s long-time best friend and Amelia’s boyfriend, Ben. Ben is a superstar scientist whose goal is to find cures for what ails children in under-privileged countries.

As the book begins Matthew meets a ten-year-old boy named Danny. Danny is trying to get money to help his three-year-old sister who is sick and vomiting. Against his better judgment Matthew invites Danny and Isabelle to his home to give Isabelle some medicine. Danny and Isabelle’s mother is a drug addict deep in to her addiction. All of them are living in a crack house. This single act of kindness ends up turning Matthew’s life upside down.

Although much of the story is fairly predictable, it’s not done in a boring, I-so-knew-that-was-going-to-happen kind of way. It’s more of a natural progression to understand the characters; what they are thinking and why they make the decisions they make. Ms. Tucker does a great job of showing how and why Amelia and Matthew change with each new adventure in their lives. And the novel really makes you think about what it means to be ethical and to do the right thing. Sometimes what we think is the right thing may not actually be what’s best.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 at 12:41 pm and is filed under Reviews. Comments are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.