Contemporary Authors

• Hindsight: A Novel Spark Press (Phoenix, AZ), 2016

• The Infinite Now - 2017 Spark Press, Phoenix, AZ

• Spark Press - http://gosparkpress.com/portfolio/mindy-tarquini/

  Raised by traditional people in a modern world, Mindy Tarquini is a second-generation Italian American who grew up believing dreams are prophecy, the devil steals lost objects, and an awkward glance can invite the evil eye. She is an assistant editor with The Lascaux Review and a member of the Perley Station Writers’ Colony. A native Philadelphian, Ms. Tarquini resides in Phoenix with her husband, where she divides her time between writing and wrestling with her bread machine. She does not have hindsight.

• The Phix (Phoenix Mag) - http://www.phoenixmag.com/literary/q-a-with-hindsight-author-valley-writer-mindy-tarquini.html

  Q&A With "Hindsight" Author, Valley Writer Mindy Tarquini

  Written by Alejandra Armstrong Category: Literary Issue: November 2016
  fShare
  Valley author Mindy Tarquini. Photo courtesy Ms. Tarquini.Though Mindy Tarquini’s debut novel Hindsight has nothing to do with hospitals, it was in a children’s hospital in Philadelphia where she realized her desire to write it. Tarquini was working as an ultrasound technician when she noticed a patient’s mother – who, considering the circumstances, hardly ever smiled – reading Peter Mayle’s “A Year in Provence” and bursting with laughter. She wondered what it would be like to write something so cheerful it could help someone transcend their current circumstances, as grim as they may be, for even a few moments. That thought guided her while writing Hindsight. Tarquini describes her novel as “a layered contemporary fable” about a woman from a tight-knit Italian American family who has the ability to remember all of her past lives and how the lessons learned therein dictate how she lives in the present.
  Hindsight, released Tuesday, has already received high praise. Tarquini is originally a native of Philadelphia but now resides in the Valley. She will be hosting her first-ever book signing and reading at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix this evening (Wednesday) at 7 p.m. We chatted with the author about her inspirations for the novel.
  What was your inspiration for having a main character who could remember her past lives? Where did the hindsight idea come from?
  In Italian culture, when a baby is born with a caul [in which the baby is born with a thin membrane covering its face and body], the person is believed to have a second sight. It’s a very rare that babies are born with a caul. My grandmother was born with a caul. So I wondered, ‘What if a person was born with a caul, but was also breeched?’ And because they were breeched, the caul was on the backside. So, what if that gave the person the ability to see into their past instead of being able to see into the future? Then I thought, ‘If you could see into past lives, would you really apply that knowledge?’ Would you use it to grow and change and live a more meaningful life or would you hide from it?
  The character, Eugenia, is a South Philly Italian girl—which I totally know about—and her mother is sort of based on my grandmother. It’s kind of a conglomeration of people I have known over the years.
  So, Hindsight is very personal?hindsight
  It’s a deeply personal book. It’s my family, the things I know, the people I remember, those people who inspired me. I meant it like a love letter to them. I started writing some time ago. And in the middle of writing it, some of the people I based the story on passed away. So that changed the story because I became more serious in my outlook. The story deepened and became more layered. So, what had started as a sort of frivolous, fun, romp kind of story became deeper, and deeper and deeper and turned into an upmarket literary piece.
  Who would you say Hindsight is for?
  The Publisher’s Weekly review called it, “A lively combination of modern women’s fiction and historical urban fantasy.” I got a kick out of it! I’ve had people call it speculative, listed it under metaphysical and visionary or magical realism, but my audience I had in mind, truly, when I was writing it is women who really want to sink their teeth into something and pick it apart, because it is so layered, but would enjoy it all the while. I think it’s smart women’s fiction. It’s meant for women with brains. It really is! I wrote the book for the readers. I just want people to enjoy it.
  If you go:
  Mindy Tarquini book signing, Hindsight
  7 p.m., Wed., Nov. 9
  Changing Hands Bookstore
  300 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix
  602-274-0067, changinghands.com

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Print Marked Items
Spotlight on first novels
Booklist.
113.4 (Oct. 15, 2016): p28.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
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Full Text:
* The Bear and the Nightingale. By Katherine Arden. Jan. 2017.336p. Del Rey, $27 (97811018859321.
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Gracefully threaded with Russian fairy tales and a tactile sense of place, Arden's debut tells the story of Vasya,
daughter of a supposed witch, in the northern reaches of medieval Russia. As a child, Vasya's conversations with wood
sprites and household spirits were an odd, but tolerable feature, but when her father marries deeply pious, troubled
Anna, Vasya learns to keep her otherworldly friends a secret. They don't stay secret for long, however: a fanatical priest
quickly catches on, and he becomes obsessed with Vasya's salvation, while Anna roils with anger over her
stepdaughters brazen disregard for propriety. Most treacherous of all, two supernatural beings, Morozko and Medved,
see powerful opportunities in Vasya's gifts. And while Vasya tries to ward off Medved's nefarious grasp on her village,
political rumblings from Moscow threaten their status quo, and the villagers become wary of Vasya's inexplicable
talents and boldness. In a lush narrative with the cadence of a fairy tale, Arden weaves an immersive, earthy story of
folk magic, faith, and hubris, peopled with vivid, dynamic characters, particularly clever, brave Vasya, who outsmarts
men and demons alike to save her family. This beautifully written, auspicious first novel is utterly bewitching.­­Sarah
Hunter
YA: With a teen heroine and fairy­tale atmosphere, this could have easily been published as YA. Teen fans of literary
fairy tales will be enchanted. SH.
Bone & Bread. By Saleema Nawaz. Nov. 2016.456p. Anansi, paper, $16.95 (9781770890091).
With an elegance and fluidity of prose rare in first novels, Canadian writer Nawaz presents a masterful examination of
the ties that bind people together and the quiet endurance required for sustaining those bonds through the countless
travails of life and death. Beena remains bereaved, but she is attempting to preserve the burgeoning relationships that
have allowed her to cope with the death of her sister, Sadhana. In the wake of this tragedy, Beena reflects on their
childhood together after the death of their parents, remembering the tumultuous nature of their sisterhood and the many
struggles that led to their final fight. Mingled grief and guilt lead Beena to return to her sister's Montreal apartment to
investigate what exactly went on during Sadhana's last days and uncover the truth behind her death. Poignant,
engrossing, and tender, Nawaz's work explores the lifelong attempt to protect those we love and how we learn to rally
for those dear to us.­­Caitlin Brown
The Butcher's Hook. By Janet Ellis. Jan. 2017. 368p. Pegasus, $24.95 (9781681773117).
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In this macabre love story, Anne Jaccob is a young woman from a wealthy family in Georgian London. Though she
lives a comfortable life, she receives no love from her cold father, and her mother has been wasting away for years.
Not only that, but Anne has been promised to an oily, self­absorbed man. Longing for love and an escape from her
home, Anne is instantly smitten by the butcher's boy, Fub, when he makes a delivery to the home. She embarks on a
whirlwind love affair, which she must keep secret, and there are no lengths that she won't go to in order to protect it,
including cold­blooded murder. Still, readers won't suspect the story's dark turn, which flips the usual tropes on their
heads and makes for a pleasantly surprising read. Ellis' debut is at times awkwardly paced, and characters are generally
unlikable and melodramatic. Fans of the setting, with plenty of sex and violence thrown in, will enjoy the novelty of
this book that reads like a Tim Burton film.­­Emily Brock
The Dispossessed. By Szilard Borbely. Nov. 2016. 304p. illus. HarperPerennial, paper, $15.99 (9780062364081).
Well­known poet Borbely uses his lyrical talent to illuminate the suffering and deep­seated poverty in a tiny Hungarian
village in the 1960s, a time when politics and communism in the region changed difficult lives to impossible. The
unnamed child narrator, whose drunken father is of Jewish descent and whose family is officially Greek Catholic
(another unpopular religion in a Calvinist village), describes his life as a fearful outcast who, with his sister, does most
of the chores and spends inordinate amounts of time keeping his mother from jumping into the well. The narrator
doesn't shy away from the peasants' coarse humor, sexual aberrations, and cruelty to animals, nor the filth and
excrement that surround them and serve as metaphors for their lives. While the short declarative sentences may seem
somewhat repetitious, every page is laden with significance, and though some readers may not enjoy the education
Borbely gives them, most will find much to ponder in this moving literary novel that compares favorably to both Elie
Wiesel's Night (1960) and Philip Hensher's Scenes from Early Life (2013) for their disturbingly clear descriptions and
autobiographical nature. Borbely died in 2014. ­­Jen Baker
Fever Dream. By Samanta Schweblin. Tr. by Megan McDowell. Jan. 2017. 192p. Riverhead, $25 (9780399184598).
Schweblin's first novel tells a frenetic, unnerving tale. A young mother, Amanda, is afflicted by a sudden illness and
accepts that death is imminent. As she waits in her hospital bed, she hears the hovering voice of a young boy, David,
who guides her as she recounts the events leading to her current dire situation. After arriving at a rural vacation home
with her daughter, Nina, Amanda strikes up a friendship with their alluring neighbor, Carla, a local who is revealed to
be David's mother. Carla shares with Amanda an unusual story about her son and her efforts to save him after he was
poisoned. Amanda, at first dubious, becomes increasingly troubled by both mother and son and makes plans to cut
their vacation short and return home. But things go awry when Amanda decides to bid Carla farewell. Schweblin's
sparse narrative, both familiar and mysterious, quickly grows in intensity as the hazy whispers of self­doubt and death
itself descend. A thought­provoking story that provides ample opportunity for readers to grapple with its unanswered
questions. ­­Leah Strauss
First Light. By Bill Rancic. Nov. 2016. 320p. Putnam, $26 (9781101982273).
Entrepreneur and reality­TV star Rancic, author of the best­selling You're Hired: How to Succeed in Business and Life
(2004), presents a captivating and harrowing debut novel. After doing damage control for a recent oil spill, the Petrol
team members are more than ready to leave the darkness of Barrow, Alaska. Kerry Egan and Daniel Albrecht are
especially excited to return to Chicago to plan their wedding and celebrate the holidays. But during their flight home,
something goes terribly wrong. Stranded in the Yukon Territory after their plane crashes during a storm, Kerry, Daniel,
and other survivors must endure the unforgiving conditions of the Canadian wilderness. Kerry and Phil Velez, another
Petrol employee, are gravely injured during the crash. As the only one with survival experience, Daniel is forced to
make difficult decisions to save the woman he loves and ensure that everyone has a chance of being rescued. First
Light is, at its core, a story of love and family, told within an engrossing page­turner about endurance and hope.­­
Patricia Smith
The Futures. By Anna Pitoniak. Jan. 2017.320p. Little, Brown/Lee Boudreaux, $26 (9780316354172); e­book, $12.99
(9780316354189).
Recent college grads Julia and Evan, who alternate chapters narrating Pitoniak's debut, have just traded New Haven for
New York. Without any distinct post­college plans, Julia thinks moving in with Evan is as good as anything else. Evan,
on the other hand, has landed a coveted spot at a highly respected hedge fund, one of the few, he'll soon learn, that's
safe in the about­to­happen 2008 market crash. Quickly, Evan is working around the clock, attracting the attention of a
boss whose elusive praise is wildly sought­after by his competitive colleagues. Julia, working "only" normal hours, is
lonely and disappointed, if not surprised, by how quickly playing house has become anything but fun. When Evan gets
involved in a deal that he suspects, then knows, isn't above­board, and Julia seeks fun and comfort elsewhere, Pitoniak
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keeps the pace moving at a steady clip. Through Julia, preppy, privileged, depressive, and Evan, a Canadian country
boy running from his roots, Pitoniak's well plotted, character­driven, interior­focused novel captures the knowable
angst of the unknowable possibilities of modern young adulthood.­­Annie Bostrom
YA/M: Julia and Evan an barely older than the teenagers who might like a peek at the abruptly adult lives they lead
after college. AB.
Hindsight. By Mindy Tarquini. Nov. 2016. 320p. SparkPress, paper, $16.95 (9781943006014); e­book, $9.95
(9781943006021).
Eugenia knows where she has been all too well; she is not sure where she is going to end up. Thirty­three years old and
living with her mother in South Philly, Eugenia has the unique ability to remember all of her past lives, but she is only
interested in what her as­yet­unknown future holds. She thinks her current life is too easy, and she is craving more,
when she meets Friedrich, a man who shares her strange talent, as his concentration­camp tattoo from a past life
proves. The two form an unlikely friendship that always dances around more, and suddenly Eugenia's life is exciting.
Instead of wishing for something better in her next life, she is engaged in the present, able to tackle things she never
thought possible and in sight of the life she has always wanted, this time around. Tarquini charms her audience with
heady wit and laugh­out­loud humor, especially where Eugenia's hilarious Italian American family is concerned. This
is a fast­reading, enjoyable journey through past and present that many readers will enjoy.­­Carissa Chesanek
* History of Wolves. By Emily Fridlund. Jan. 2017. 288p. Atlantic Monthly, $25 (97808021258731.
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Fraught with foreboding, Fridlund's first novel is the story of 14­year­old Linda, who lives with her erstwhile cultmember
parents in a cabin in the northern Minnesota woods. When new neighbors, the Gardners, move into their
summer cottage across the lake, Linda becomes babysitter for their five­year­old son and an increasingly large
presence in their lives­­and they in hers. In the meantime, her new history teacher, Mr. Grierson, has been found to
possess child pornography and is fired, but not before he has an alleged affair with one of Linda's classmates, the
beautiful Lily with whom Linda is fascinated. The novel moves backward and forward in time to good effect, showing
us the enigmatic adult Linda will become. The isolated setting reinforces a theme of loneliness that pervades the book
and lends it an often bleak, even desolate, air that reinforces the uncertain, nagging knowledge that something is wrong
with the Gardners. The writing is beautiful throughout ("the sun broke over the treetops, turning every surface into a
flat knife of light"; a man is stubborn "like a stain") and is a triumph of tone and attitude. Lovers of character­driven
literary fiction will embrace this one.­­Michael Cart
YA/M: Older teens who enjoy literary fiction will he engaged and intrigued by this novel's richly realized themes of
loneliness and the urgent desire to belong. MC.
* I Liked My Life. By Abby Fabiaschi. Jan. 2017.272p. St. Martin's, $25.99 (9781250084873).
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Maddy's husband, Brady, and their teenage daughter, Eve, have been struggling after Maddy's suicide. Wanting to help
her shattered family move on without her, Maddy hovers from the beyond, seeking the right woman to take her place.
She finds the perfect person to help Brady and Eve move past their loss in Rory, an elementary teacher, and she plants
thoughts in their heads to bring Rory and her family together. But Rory has experienced her own loss and may be just
as much in need of learning to live again as Brady and Eve are. Fabiaschi excels at depicting the confusion Eve and
Brady experience as they desperately try to reconcile their Maddy with the one who committed suicide. Excerpts from
Maddy's journal and multiple narrators add to the complexity of Maddy's character as well as the layers of strained
relationship history between Brady and Eve. Readers will be enveloped by the emotional impact of Fabiaschi's writing.
Warm and hopeful, this marvelous debut stands next to novels from Catherine McKenzie and Carolyn Parkhurst in
taking the reader on the emotional rides that define marriage and family.­­Tracy Babiasz
* Lincoln in the Bardo. By George Saunders. Jan. 2017.368p. Random, $28 (9780812995343).
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Even though Saunders (Tenth of December, 2013), the much­heralded author of distinctively inventive short stories,
anchors his first novel to a historical moment­­the death of President Abraham Lincoln's young son, Willie, in February
1862­­this is most emphatically not a conventional work of historical fiction. The surreal action takes place in a
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cemetery, and most of the expressive, hectic characters are dead, caught in the bardo, the mysterious transitional state
following death and preceding rebirth, heaven, or hell. Their vivid narration resembles a play, or a prose variation on
Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology (1915), as they tell their stories, which range from the gleefully ribald to
the tragic in tales embodying the dire conflicts underlying the then­raging Civil War. On pages laddered with brilliantly
"curated" quotes from books and historical documents (most actual, some concocted), Saunders cannily sets the stage
for Lincoln's true­life, late­night visits to the crypt, where he cradles his son's body­­scenes of epic sorrow turned
grotesque by the morphing spirits' frantic reactions. Saunders creates a provocative dissonance between his
exceptionally compassionate insights into the human condition and Lincoln's personal and presidential crises and this
macabre carnival of the dead, a wild and wily improvisation on the bardo that mirrors, by turns, the ambience of
Hieronymus Bosch and Tim Burton. A boldly imagined, exquisitely sensitive, sharply funny, and utterly unnerving
historical and metaphysical drama.­­Donna Seaman
HIGH­DEMAND BACKSTORY: The buzz is loud and will continue to be so when literary star Saunders goes on a
national author tour supported by an all­platform media blitz.
* Marlena. By Julie Buntin. Apr. 2017. 288p. Holt, $26 (9781627797641).
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In Buntin's vivid debut, Cath, now a New York City public librarian in her thirties, tells the story of the friendship that
changed her forever. Fifteen and stinging from her parents' recent divorce, Cath has already decided that she'll be
different in freezing, rugged Silver Lake, Michigan, from the nerdy, do­gooder "Cathy" she was back in Pontiac. On
cue, wild, beautiful, unpredictable Marlena, her new neighbor, appears as Cath, her mother, and brother pull up to the
tiny home that's apparently theirs. Cath is suddenly and completely drawn to Marlena: ethereal though chemically
fueled, brilliant but reckless, so comforting when she's not angry or, worse, too honest. An early revelation that
Marlena will soon die increases the suspense. Cath, an aggressively truant smoker in her new identity, knows that
Marlenas dad is up to no good in his rail car deep in the woods, that he's cooking a better version of the meth Marlena's
boyfriend makes and sells, and Marlena's constant pill­popping isn't nothing, but this friendship and the life that comes
with it are closer to belonging than Cath has ever felt. Though Cath tells her story in flashbacks, Buntin's prose is
emotional and immediate, and the interior lives she draws of young women and obsessive best friends are Ferranteesque.­­Annie
Bostrom
YA/M: This novel is full of first times and difficult things, and the teens who are ready for them will recognize Cath
and Marlena. AB.
Our Little Secret. By Jenna Ellis. Oct. 2016.416p. IPG/Pan Macmillan, paper, $14.95 (9781447266785).
Scanning classified ads while whiling away the minutes at her dead­end job, wrangling kids at the Manchester FunPlex
Dome, Sophie Henshaw is intrigued by a listing for an "articulate, well­mannered English girl" to work for a family in
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upstate New York. At 22, her life isn't terrible, and she and her longtime boyfriend have an amazing sex life­­but not
much else. She's ready to shake things up. Quickly, after interviewing for the job on video, she's flown business class
to New York, and everything only gets more luxurious from there. Edward and Marnie Parker's seemingly endless,
hyperprivate house is teched­up and glitzed­out, and, of course, they're both interesting­­and superhot. But where are
those kids Sophie thought she was going to nanny? And is it just her, or is there a lot of sexual tension in here?
Figuring out that something's up with the Parkers, and that Sophie's hire wasn't exactly what it seemed, isn't rocket
science, but plot twists take a limo­length backseat to erotica here. And first­time novelist Ellis cleverly leaves the
ending open for a sequel.­­Annie Bostrom
* The Patriots. By Sana Krasikov. Jan. 2017. 560p. Spiegel & Grau, $28 (9780385524414).
Krasikov's short story collection, One More Year (2008), garnered a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 award and
the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. Now her fluency in the complex interactions between Russia and America
shapes her first novel, an involving, suspenseful, and astute cross­cultural saga. Idealistic and impetuous Brooklynite
Florence Fein lands a job with the Soviet Trade Mission. She falls for a worldly Russian engineer, precipitating her
reckless 1934 voyage to the Soviet Union, where her naivete and brashness both endanger and empower her as she
navigates many­pronged tyranny, anti­Semitism, and vicious corruption. With scintillating language and transporting
narrative command, Krasikov interlayers Florence's harrowing adventures with those of her son, Julian­­who endured
Soviet orphanages while she suffered in a Siberian labor camp and is currently embroiled in the race to drill for Arctic
oil­­and his floundering son, Lenny. As each generation struggles to find a home and an identity in both Russia and the
U.S., Krasikov dramatizes hidden, shameful facets of history in which expat American Jews were betrayed by both
countries. In a galvanizing tale of flawed and courageous protagonists, erotic and political passion, and harrowing
struggles for survival, Krasikov masterfully and devastatingly exposes the "whole dark clockwork" of totalitarianism
and asks what it means to be a hero, a patriot, a human being.­­Donna Seaman
Pull Me Under. By Kelly Luce. Nov. 2016.272p. Farrar, $26 (9780374238582).
Luce follows her hit story collection, Three Scenarios in Which Hana Sasaki Grows a Tail (2013), with a debut novel
about secret lives and selfhood. The daughter of a respected Japanese classical­music composer and an American
woman who committed suicide, Rio Silvestri, a nurse, now lives in Boulder with her loving husband, teenage daughter,
and a passion for long­distance running. When she receives a package containing artifacts and the news that her father
has died, Rio faces the dark past she has spent her life running from: as a teenager living in Japan, she murdered a
school bully and was sent to an institution for disturbed youth. Having hidden her shameful history from her family,
Rio now travels alone to her father's funeral in Japan to face all that she left behind. Striking an unlikely friendship
with her high­school English teacher, Rio explores ancient temples and forgotten memories on a journey to discover
courage and renewed affection for those she loves. Understated yet emotionally gripping, Luce's novel is an intimate
portrayal of one woman's search for identity.­­Jonathan Fullmer
* The Standard Grand. By Jay Baron Nicorvo. Apr. 2017.368p. St. Martin's, $26.99 (9781250108944); e­book, $12.99
(9781250108951).
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Milt Wright, a widowed Vietnam vet, operates the Standard Grand, a once­thriving, luxurious Catskills resort, now a
run­down sanctuary for homeless veterans suffering from PTSD. Dying from cancer, Milt is trying to keep the Grand
afloat by maxing out his credit and finding a worthy successor. Enter Bellum Smith, gone AWOL just before her third
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deployment to Iraq and running from her abusive, ne'er­do­well husband. Milt takes her in, the only female at the
Grand, and believes she may be the answer to his problems. Evangelina Canek represents a multinational corporation
with designs on the land and hopes to save her job by cheaply acquiring the property and turning a quick profit, since
the Grand is sitting on a massive shale formation. With sentences that flow like water down a mountain, Nicorvo's
muscular and energetic prose will stun readers with its poignancy, while providing a punch to the solar plexus. Whipsmart
dialogue and keen emotional insight bring a ragtag, damaged, but lovable cast of characters to life. Ultimately, it
is Nicorvo's depiction of the deep psychological scars soldiers bring home that will keep this exceptional first novel in
the hearts and minds of readers. Alongside Billy Lynn's Long, Halftime Walk (2012) and Yellow Birds (2012), The
Standard Grand is an important and deeply human contribution to the national conversation.­­Bill Kelly
* The Strays. By Emily Bitto. Jan. 2017.256p. Twelve, $26 (9781455537723).
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A note from an old friend sparks Lily's memory, and suddenly it's the 1930s again in Melbourne. Lily is nine, first
meeting Eva, who will become her best friend. Eva's well­known artist father, Evan, is always busy painting, Lily
learns, while Eva's beautiful mother, Helena, is always busy ... being glamorous. Lily, fast becoming a witness to all
this, is fascinated by the family's bohemian existence, their house always filled with other artists, some of whom
actually live there in a kind of chaotic, de facto artist colony calling itself the Melbourne Modern Art Group. With the
adults either occupied or careless, Eva and her two sisters are left on their own­­strays, their mother calls them,
including Lily in their number, to Lily's delight. But what seems like a halcyon time changes suddenly when something
nearly unimaginable happens, and Lily is left alone and friendless. Soon thereafter the novel flashes forward some 30
years as past and present come together in a melancholy denouement. Winner of Australia's Stella Prize, Bitto's novel
is a haunting evocation of life­changing friendship. Stylishly written (an elegant woman is "pale and long and light,
like a taper"), The Strays is a marvel of setting and characterization, re­creating a time of artistic revolution and
personal revelation. Memorable and moving, this is a novel not to be missed.­­Michael Cart
The Waiting Room. By Leah Kaminsky. Nov. 2016.304p. HarperPerennial, paper, $15.99 (9780062490476).
Australian physician and writer Kaminisky's first novel centers on Dina, who finds her everyday life as a doctor in
Haifa, Israel, intertwined with both her family's past and collective Jewish history. Raised in Australia by Holocaustsurvivor
parents, she reaches Israel as an adult and experiences an immediate sense of belonging. However, even as she
meets and marries Eitan, has a child, and settles down, she feels an inner tug­of­war as she longs to return to
Melbourne, away from the relentless sense of impending disaster. Kaminsky uses the events of one day as this busy
mother and doctor runs from home to school to office and deals with errands to dramatize what it means to live under
constant threat. But she also reminds us that life is the same everywhere, even in places of high­wire stress, as we face
such realities as a strained marriage and the struggle to make time to be with one's child. Kaminsky brings Dina into
sharp focus, while her ghostly mother serves as a strong secondary character, in order to vividly personalize stark news
reports.­­Shoba Viswanathan
* A Word for Love. By Emily Robbins. Jan. 2017. 304p. Riverhead, $27 (9781594633584).
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Bea has seen firsthand that real life can mirror fiction. An American student of Arabic in an unnamed Middle Eastern
country that is on the verge of revolution, Bea is on a mission to get her hands on the world­famous "astonishing text,"
a legendary story of star­crossed lovers Qais and Leila and the good Samaritan who kept their ill­fated adventures
alive. In her host family's small home, however, Bea is witness to two life­changing events that unfold along parallel
tracks: an enduring, illicit romance between Nisrine, the Indonesian housemaid, and Adel, a young policeman stationed
next door; and the host family's patriarch's increasing involvement in political dissent, actions that might carry serious
consequences. The themes here seem ripe for melodrama, but Robbins' promising debut steers clear of cloying
sentimentality even if at times the similarities between Bea and the good Samaritan of lore feel forced. Still, Bea is a
winning choice as a narrator, lending the story vulnerability and authenticity, especially because she is such an
empathetic, and often helpless, spectator. With an impressive economy of words, Robbins, formerly a Fulbright Fellow
in Syria, tells a story that proves that themes of love, loss, and freedom truly can transcend borders and time.­­
Poornima Apte
YA/M: Intelligent and kind Bea might intrigue YAs, who will be curious to learn more about her path as a young
study­abroad student. PA.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Spotlight on first novels." Booklist, 15 Oct. 2016, p. 28+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA468771279&it=r&asid=7db3930eadd5c8069af840369ddaacba.
Accessed 11 June 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A468771279
6/11/2017 General OneFile ­ Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1497210944148 8/8
Hindsight
Publishers Weekly.
263.39 (Sept. 26, 2016): p71.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Hindsight
Mindy Tarquini. Sparkpress, $16.95 trade paper (317p) ISBN 978­1­943006­01­4
Eugenia Panisporchi has hindsight­­the supernatural ability to see backward in time and understand how present­day
happenings and people echo those of the past. In her present life, she's a 33­year­old Italian­American from South
Philly who teaches Chaucer at Temple University; long in the past, she lived in a small town in the Bavarian Alps that
was shattered by a series of terrible events. In this lively combination of modern women's fiction and historical urban
fantasy, debut author Tarquini deftly imagines Eugenia's frustration with repeatedly reliving her unhappy past. Eugenia
wants nothing to do with hindsight or any of the people she knew in Bavaria, but they keep popping up in her new
lives without knowing who they are or what they've done. They have new faces but the same old issues. In the present
day, Eugenia means to find a way out of the cycle­­for good. Tarquini's innovative concept is paired with realistic
characters and sparkling wit, making this enjoyable novel a keeper. (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Hindsight." Publishers Weekly, 26 Sept. 2016, p. 71. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA465558217&it=r&asid=6708bf1574ff89c6f595fa3e90635b25.
Accessed 11 June 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A465558217

• RT Book Reviews
  https://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/hindsight
  Word count: 195

  HINDSIGHT
  Author(s): Mindy Tarquini
  This quirky and often funny novel is a satisfying debut and will pique readers’ interests right off the bat. It’s a well constructed storyline, and the prose flows freely without any confusion or halts. Tarquini has the ability to really pick our brains and wonder about multiple and past lives. Her humor is the perfect added touch to lighten up a sometimes serious topic.
  Chaucer professor Eugenia Panisporchi recollects all of her past lives. Whether it’s a blessing or a curse, she wants her future to change for the better — and quickly. At 33-years-old, Eugenia’ life is quiet and she prays to the Blessed Virgin Mary hoping her wish will come true. She wants the opportunity to choose the circumstances in her next life. One of her students confesses he shares the same ability as her, so Eugenia creates a Facebook page in hopes of finding others like herself. Maybe her rare gift, along with the help of another, will provide her with the answers she needs in order to move forward. (SPARKPRESS, Nov., 304 pp., $16.95)

  Reviewed by:
  Jaime A. Geraldi

• BuzzFeed
  https://www.buzzfeed.com/andreakennedy/5-captivating-november-reads-for-literary-lovers-nq4o?utm_term=.itdJ0Ydbmb#.tgxW8xJ0D0
  Word count: 66

  Eugenia Panisporchi has hindsight, or the ability to remember all of her past lives. Born this time around into an Italian-American family in South Philly, Hindsight follows Eugenia on her journey to overcome the obstacles of this life in the hopes of a better future. Witty and thought-provoking, Mindy Tarquini’s debut is a must-read for lovers of Chaucer, magical realism and literary ingenuity.

• Easy Street Magazine
  http://www.easystreetmag.com/hindsight-by-mindy-tarquini/
  Word count: 529

  Reviews
  Hindsight by Mindy Tarquini: a Review
  Nov 8, 2016 • No Comments
  by Camille Griep

  As a concept, hindsight is a desirable thing. Just last month I asked myself what I’d done in a past life to deserve a pinched neck nerve, a tooth extraction, and a root canal all in the space of three weeks.

  But alas, that old saw about being careful what we wish for is as apt for the protagonist of debut author Mindy Tarquini’s novel Hindsight as it would be for most of us.

  See, Eugenia Panisporchi’s lives are unraveling. All of them.

  Tarquini gives us a contemporary story, but with a twist. See, Eugenia knows about her past lives. They visit and haunt, vex and bother. Worse, she thinks she knows what’s what and who’s who, but she’s ever-so-unreliable, deftly ducking through relationships with friends, family, and lovers, ever sure of the outcomes. To say more about the plot itself might spoil the reader’s discovery of the twists and turns of Eugenia’s increasingly frantic efforts to set things right. However, there are car crashes and self-help groups, shifty plumbers and wartime passions, all served up on a steaming hot plot platter.

  Here, Ms. Tarquini deftly romps through the ties that bind, the assumptions that gag, and the mistakes that haunt the human experience. What’s more, she provides readers with the opportunity to romp through a well-paced and cleverly styled story, and/or fall through the looking glass of carefully researched literature and history. Tarquini bucks cliché at every turn, and there are lines herein that will take your breath away when you least expect it.

  Readers get a healthy dose of Italian-American culture in Hindsight, as well as religion and family dynamics. Tarquini also carefully explores the expectations of women and men in a modern world, including the ingrained impulse to protect one another as family and friends, despite the consequences. Readers are invited into Eugenia’s past hurts and regrets, where we are gently reminded there’s almost always more to everyone’s story. Tarquini presents Eugenia’s many lives in such a way that the speculative element offers the same safety as fantasy, but enough grounding in reality that the reader is able to stay comfortably on the couch.

  I had the honor to blurb this book, and so I’ll leave you with my heartiest recommendation in the same words: With the wisdom of Chaucer, Kipling, and her Blessed Mary Keychain, Eugenia gives the reader a seat at her family dinner table where things are never (ever) as they seem. Tarquini’s rollicking prose wends the reader through a hybrid contemporary, historical, and speculative tale of karma, past lives, and the capacity to forgive and forget.

  Equal parts tender and hilarious, Hindsight will leave readers wanting another meatball, another life, and whatever Tarquini serves up next.

  carriage.2

  Camille Griep is the editor of Easy Street. Her most recent novel, New Charity Blues, was published in April 2016 by 47North.

• Foreword Reviews
  https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/hindsight-1/
  Word count: 432

  Hindsight

  Reviewed by Amy O'Loughlin
  November 17, 2016

  This intriguing chronicle of past lives emphasizes the importance of acting in the here and now.

  Mindy Tarquini’s Hindsight is an evocative and inventive reincarnation tale that chronicles the past lives of an intriguing assortment of characters as they seek redemption for long-ago wrongs, yearning to influence the course of their next incarnations.

  An uproarious but forlorn Chaucer professor, Eugenia is haunted by memories of her former lives. She was once Chaucer’s confidante and inspiration for a character in The Canterbury Tales, as well as a collaborator in a horrific Bavarian event, now four hundred years in the past. She moves between accepting her hindsight—the ability to remember past lives—and speculation that she’s mentally ill. When leaving one life for another, she forfeits lovers, contentment, and stability. Eugenia wants a rational explanation, and to avoid repeatedly confronting her grief. Her wrenching misery is conveyed in impeccable prose.

  Nearly everyone Eugenia knows also existed in her past. Some don’t recognize her. Some do—especially her student, Friedrich, who pushes her to explore their tainted history, hoping to expiate his transgressions before he’s dragged into his next life. What follows is an intense, speculative, and multilayered unveiling of characters’ varied incarnations throughout time, including the influence they’ve had on one another and the consequences of their deeds. Lively and controlled writing reveals the intersection between past and present, and the novel’s otherworldliness never overshadows its pathos and humanity. Witty dialogue, underscored by Eugenia’s entertaining voice, prevents Hindsight from falling into gloominess.

  Drawing on snippets of wisdom from long-gone literary giants, including Chaucer, Dante, Goethe, and Kipling, Tarquini illustrates the eternal universality of human behavior. And while the prospect of getting a second chance at life is tantalizing, Tarquini’s narrative emphasizes the importance of acting in the here and now: saying what should be said, forgiving what needs to be forgiven, embracing opportunities to deepen connections with others, and seizing moments of happiness when they’re presented. Consequently, Hindsight is a sustaining and deeply personal reading experience.

  Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The author of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the author for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

• Spinetingler Magazine
  http://www.spinetinglermag.com/2016/11/08/review-hindsight-by-mindy-tarquini/
  Word count: 171

  Review: Hindsight, by Mindy Tarquini
  November 8, 2016
  By Sandra Ruttan

  Mindy Tarquini’s Hindsight is available November 8, 2016.
  Deliciously original with a quirky voice that sets Mindy Tarquini in a league of her own, Hindsight is an entertaining story about a woman with the ability to see her past lives, who is desperate to find a way to break this curse.

  “But here’s the bitch about memory. It allows us to return to a moment. And leaves us helpless to change it.”

  In order for Eugenia to find peace in her future she must first come to terms with her past. As present choices mirror past actions Eugenia will have to decide if she can forgive others, and herself, for actions that have haunted her for hundreds of years.

  Told with a distinct style and mildly irreverent tone, Hindsight blends comedy and insight into an engaging story with a brave, yet satisfying, conclusion.

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