Nineteen years ago, a famous man disappeared from Hollywood, taking his two children to a rocky, desolate corner of New Mexico where he raised them in complete isolation in a utopian "Sanctuary." Now, Dorothea, the man's twenty-three-year-old daughter, is leaving this place for the first time, in search of her missing brother. Dorothea's search will turn into an odyssey of discovery, leading to the shocking truth about her family's past and the terrifying events of that day that drove her father to flee Los Angeles in a desperate attempt to protect his children from a dangerous world. But Dorothea's journey will also introduce her to an unusual cast of characters, including a homeless girl from Missouri who becomes a jazz singer and a doctor turned cabdriver who has suffered his own losses. Together, they have a chance to make a discovery of a different kind: that though a heart can be broken by the tragic events of a day, a day can also bring a new chance at love and a deeper understanding of life's infinite possibilities.

Lisa Tucker's The Song Reader and Shout Down the Moon were published to rapturous reviews all over the world. With Once Upon a Day, she confirms that she is a "brilliant new literary talent" (The Albuquerque Tribune).