Hindsight
A Novel
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
"Tarquini's innovative concept is paired with realistic characters and sparkling wit, making this enjoyable novel a keeper."
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
2017 Benjamin Franklin IBPA Award: Gold
USA Best Book Awards: General Fiction - Finalist
EUGENIA PANISPORCHI LIVES WITH HER MOTHER, TEACHES CHAUCER, AND REMEMBERS ALL HER PAST LIVES. SHE IS DESPERATE TO CHANGE HER FUTURE.
Born this time around into a South Philadelphia Italian-American family so traditional, she and her siblings are expected to marry in birth order, Eugenia lives a simple life―no love connection, no controversy, no complications. Her hope is that the Blessed Virgin Mary (who oversees her soul's progress) will grant her heart's desire, the option to choose the circumstances of her next life. But when a student reveals he shares her ability, Eugenia suddenly finds herself setting up a Facebook page and sponsoring a support group for others like her, an oddball odyssey, during which she discovers she must confront her current shortcomings before she can break the cycle and finally live the life of her dreams.
A layered contemporary fable, Hindsight reminds us to live this life like it's the only one we'll have.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eugenia Panisporchi has hindsight the supernatural ability to see backward in time and understand how present-day happenings and people echo those of the past. In her present life, she's a 33-year-old Italian-American 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 cycle for good. Tarquini's innovative concept is paired with realistic characters and sparkling wit, making this enjoyable novel a keeper.