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.