The Remedy for Regret (23 page)

Although this novel is a work of fiction, most of the places that appear within its pages are real and therefore subject to change.

Of particular note, Blytheville Air Force Base, mentioned in this book, was renamed Eaker Air Force Base in 1988. I do not allude to this in the story because it bears no weight on the story’s telling. Eaker Air Force Base closed in 1992.

RAF Upper Heyford, also mentioned in this book, was home to several squadrons of American aircraft until 1992, when the Tactical Fighter Wing and its aircraft were relocated to Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. The base itself was turned back over to Great Britain’s Ministry of Defense in 1994.

Lajes Field, located on the Azores islands and mentioned in the first chapter, is still home to American servicemen and women of the 65
th
Air Base Wing.

1. Tess and her father lived the “always-changing” lifestyle common to military families. How do you think this affected Tess growing up? How would it have affected you?

2. Why do you think Tess has had so many varied jobs and why has she changed her college major so many times?

3. Tess attaches heavy symbolic significance to a mother’s purse. Discuss reasons why she does that. What are some other things common to mothers that a child might attach extra meaning to?

4. When still mired in his own remorse, Simon accuses Tess of being “in love” with her pain? What does he mean by that? Is he right?

5. What do you think of Blair’s assumption that God is punishing her for keeping the locket and note? Why would she think this?

6. Tess lives with an inordinate sense of guilt regarding her mother’s death. How does she cope with it? How do men and women differ in the way they deal with guilt, real or imagined?

7. Of the three women—Tess, Blair or Jewel—whom do you identify with most? Who are you most like?

8. Corinthia Mayhew plays a significant role in Tess’s lifelong search to find a remedy for her regret. What do you like about Corinthia? Is there anything you don’t like about her?

9. Discuss Corinthia’s belief that people who live apart from God take on and master one of His characteristics as a way of filling the void that this “apartness” creates. Do you agree?

10. Did you clue in to the source of Tess’s misplaced guilt before she and Corinthia figured it out? What do you think of Tess’s reaction to the truth? How would you have reacted?

11. What is your opinion of Tess’s father, Mark? On a scale of 1 to 10, how much sympathy do you feel for him?

12. Discuss what might be the significance of Tess’s interest in maps. Where might this fascination stem from?

13. Though shocked, Tess’s Uncle Martin welcomes Tess into his house and heart. Was this the reaction you expected? How would the story have been different if he hadn’t been welcoming?

Susan Meissner
is the multi-published author of
The Shape of Mercy,
named one of the 100 Best Books in 2008 by Publishers Weekly and the ECPA’s Fiction Book of the Year. She is also a speaker and writing workshop leader with a background in community journalism, and is the leader/moderator of a local writer’s group, a pastor’s wife and the mother of four young adults.

When she’s not writing, Susan directs the Small Groups and Connection Ministries program at The Church at Rancho Bernardo in San Diego. She also enjoys teaching workshops on writing and dream-following, as well as spending time with her family, listening to or making music, reading great books, and traveling.

Susan says, “I write fiction for the restless reader. I love the power of story to plumb the depths of who we are and Whose we are.”

Visit Susan’s webpage at:
www.susanmeissner.com

Blue Heart Blessed

In All Deep Places

A Seahorse in the Thames

The Shape of Mercy

Lady in Waiting

White Picket Fences

The Remedy for Regret

Copyright, 2005, 2012 by Susan Meissner. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Greenbrier Book Company

P.O. Box 12721

New Bern, NC 28561

Visit our Web site at
www.greenbrierbooks.com

First eBook Edition: February 2012

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Kindle eBook eISBN: 978-1-937573-41-6

ePub eBook eISBN: 978-1-937573-42-3

Apple iBook eISBN: 978-1-937573-43-0

Cover design by Anton Khodakovsky

Cover photo by Maria Morri