The Art of Regret: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Description

There are more than 8 million French Americans in the United States today.

As of 2016, roughly 100,000 Americans lived in France and 324,000 Americans lived in Germany.

Novels about France sell. Novels by Peter Mayle, Claire Messud, and Joanne Harris make bestseller lists, but novels by newcomers can do well tooSWPs own Kristen Harnischs The Vintners Daughter and The Vintners Wife, for example, have had respectable sales.

General fiction and literary fiction titles (Crazy, Rich Asians; Little Fires Everywhere; Where the Crawdads Sing) are among Amazons top bestsellers of 2018.

Reviews

2020 IPPY Awards Silver Winner in Best Regional Fiction--Europe "Readers of The Art of Regret will have the double pleasures of walking through the 'real' Paris with an inside guide to its backstreets, little cafs, and domestic interiors; and of the dramatic story that plays out in the American-French family of Trevor McFarquhar, the photographer and bicycle shop man. Mary Fleming perfectly captures, with a discerning eye and an elegiac tone that somehow reminds of Galsworthy, the details, the slight disorientation, and the superior cultivation of Americans long-time resident in France."
--Diane Johnson, author of Le Divorce, Le Mariage, and L'Affaire
"Trevor . . . makes for an endearingly grumpy guide through a Paris that is by turns mundane and magical. An elegant, character-driven family tale set in mid-'90s."
--Kirkus Reviews
"Beautifully written, tender, evocative, and moving, The Art of Regret is a cogent reminder that risk-taking is essential to a well-lived life. . . . No one wants to die staring down a bushel of regrets or lamenting a roster of should-haves. Both Helen and Trevor provoke us to figure out ways to make sure that we confront our demons, push boundaries and live as fully as possible. I, for one, want to thank Mary Fleming for the reminder."
--The Indypendent

Author Bio

Mary Fleming, originally from Chicago, moved to Paris in 1981, where she worked as a freelance journalist and consultant. Before turning full time to writing fiction, she was the French representative for the American foundation The German Marshall Fund. A long-time board member of the French Fulbright Commission, Fleming continues to serve on the board of Bibliothques sans Frontires. She and her husband have five grown children and split their time between Paris and Berlin. The Art of Regret is Flemings second novel. She writes a blog called A Paris-Berlin Diary at http://mf.ghost.io.