The Remedy for Regret

by Susan Meissner

From the author of A Window to the World. When an old friend asks Tess Longren to accompany her to their childhood home to resolve a situation left unsettled 15 years ago, Tess falsely imagines that by helping her friend find peace, she will find contentment for herself.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Fiction, Chick Lit, Drama

304 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2005

About the author

Susan Meissner is a USA Today bestselling novelist with more than a million books in the hands of readers, and in eighteen languages. Her critically acclaimed works of historical fiction have been named to numerous lists including Publishers Weekly’s annual roster of 100 best books, Library Reads Top Picks, Real Simple annual tally of best books, Goodreads Readers’ Choice awards, Booklist’s Top Ten, and Book of the Month.

She attended Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego and is a former managing editor of a weekly newspaper. Susan’s expertise as a storyteller and her thoroughly researched topics make her a favorite author of book clubs everywhere. Her engaging and warm speaking style appeal to all manner of women’s groups, literary organizations, libraries and learning institutions, and service clubs.

When she is not working on a new novel, she enjoys teaching workshops on writing, spending time with her family, music, reading great books, and traveling.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story of faith, love, friendship, and forgiveness.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started reading the story, the characterization of Tess intrigued me. She was living with a man and not married to him. I thought, "Wonder how the author pulled that off..." in regards to taboo subjects for Christian fiction. My conclusion? The author did a wonderful job. The heroine was away from the hero, though still in communication with him, throughout the story as she traveled to find herself and remedy her regret. I was thoroughly impressed with how the author dealt with numerous issues. Abandonment, guilt, self-blame, shame, step-families, unspoken accusation, supportive friendship and unconditional love that led the heroine to a saving knowledge of Jesus and faith in God. The Christians in the story ministered to Tess in a way she could understand. They tuned into her need, spoke when the timing was right, confronted situations as appropriate, and loved her without expectations. I was also impressed with the realism in the story. Pain doesn't heal in an instant. People don't always accept our offer of forgiveness. Time doesn't always heal all wounds. Absolutely beautifully written. This is a novel that has made my life richer. I highly recommend The Remedy for Regret.

[Deb Brammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Tess blames herself for the death of her mom who died in childbirth. It talks about times when God could physically save someone, but doesn't choose to. It shows that if people don't understand something, they don't like it and convince themselves they don't need it. People are like this with God. They shift the blame to people they love and can destroy relationships. We need to work to heal relationships however we can and not let circumstances divide us.
This book was pretty good. I like how it dealt with tough issues. It didn't exactly resolve those issues, but showed a life of faith in God when we don't understand what he does.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Meissner's third novel and reflects the early approach of her writing, in which she explores a very difficult subject in a Christian context, set in an highly entertaining, engrossing, and well-written story. In this case, the subject is forgiveness, and Meissner explores all the ramifications beautifully. She also creates memorable characters--Corinthia Mayhew, especially. The book got off to a bit of a slow start for me, but it was absolutely worth continuing and I would recommend it to anyone struggling to forgive, to be forgiven, or to someone who just wants a great and worthwhile read.

[Jacquie Stricklind · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good. Will Tess ever feel she is not at fault for her mother's death just after her birth? Will she and her boyfriend, Simon get married, also, will she be able to help her friend Blair make a past wrong right? What will happened when Tess reconnects with her old neighbor, Corintha, read the book to find out.

[Michele E · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first couple chapters seemed a bit slow. It did pick up and when it did I didn't want to put it down!

[Jenna King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am coming to regard Susan Meissner as one of my favorite word wizards. She has such a way of telling a story that really draws you in and I love how she uses words and phrases to really bring across ideas and points. She understands basic human emotion in its most raw form and eloquently portrays it in her stories. Can't wait to track down another of her books and add that to my list.

[Danica · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 One of my favorite Susan Meissner novels so far.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, so far, my second-favorite Meissner book (the first being Secrets of a Charmed Life). I loved the characters, all of them, in fact, and the family conflicts they had were thoroughly believable and relatable. Corinthia Mayhew is such a memorable character. Her wisdom, gentleness, love and honesty made her larger than life; every word she spoke and action she performed reflected Jesus in some way. During the climactic conversation between her and Tess, near the end of the book, her insights into human nature and God were thought-provoking. I will be carrying some of Corinthia's wisdom with me for a long while I imagine.

[Ursula Witt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Meissner’s earlier books, so more a Christian, faith based storyline, unlike her later books of historical fiction. It is an example of heartache in a persons life and trying to help cope with that tragedy. Very much like her book Why the Sky is blue.

[Stacy Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this one okay -but not my favorite Meissner novel.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5 stars rounded up because I generally like this author, who has clearly improved her story-telling abilities since this book.

The author's third book written back in 2005 - clearly Christian based. Though this story deals with themes of guilt, forgiveness and reconciliation, it often felt clunky with too much specifically spelled out for the reader. My favorite character was the neighbor/surrogate mother, Corinthia.

I still have not read all of her earlier books, but it seems her 2008 "The Shape of Mercy" and later books have been based on historical fiction and often have dual, intertwining contemporary and historical storylines. These later books, don't have the outright Christianity (prayer, Bible study, faith, etc) mentioned as directly as in her earlier books, but they are squeaky clean and can be easily recommended to most any audience, including my mother.

I am looking forward to reading her newly released "As Bright As Heaven".

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three 13-year old girls find an abandoned baby boy who is then given up for adoption. Then, at 28, one of these women unexpectedly loses her husband which springboards the three women going to track down the now 15 year old boy. Tess, the protagonist, is working through her engagement to a man who has his own struggles, and her relationship with her father. (Tess’ mother died when she was a baby.)

The weird thing about this book was the one woman lost her husband who she immediately learned had been having an affair, but that basically isn’t mentioned again. Nor is the fact that she left her two young children who’ve just lost their father to go on this quest for an undetermined about of time. It seems like anyone in this situation would still be grieving the marriage or processing how her kids are doing.
Anyway, an enjoyable book. And, as usual, some thoughts to chew on.

[Meredith Devore · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Meissner does a beautiful job presenting faith and redemption through this story, and I liked the characters and understood their struggles. It ties up a little too neatly to be real and some of the prose is chunky and too simply narrative to get 4 stars from me, but I always like Susan Meissner. I think her books have gotten much stronger and more complex, so I'm excited to get to more of her recent books.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very readable, and I did enjoy it. I would've given it 3.5 stars if I could. The characters had a lot of depth, and religion played a big part of the story. One thing that was odd throughout the entire book was the number of typos! There were constantly words left out and words added that didn't belong, sort of like someone talking a text. I've never encountered more than one or two in a book, ever, but this was like every 3rd page.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book started out really slow. If I hadn’t read and enjoyed other books by this author, I might have quit. It did get better but I didn’t real like any of the characters other than Corinthia. The book did make good points about regrets and how to live with or change your thinking about those regrets.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast read. Tess has been struggling all her life with the thought that if she wasn't born her mother would be alive. A childhood friend reminds her of how God is pursuing her and she needs to figure out how He is finding her. The Remedy for Regret is Find a Way to Make It Right or Find Someone (God) who Can.

[Cindi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable story that hits on the topic of blaming yourself for things that are out of your control.

It's not one of my favorite books by this author but I still liked it and how the book flowed.
Fast, easy read.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok, predictable. Easy read.

[Sharon Wheeler · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel seems to have been written for a young adult audience.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as her newer stuff, but still a nice book. A little cheesy with the Christian lessons at times.

[Shelly Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been a minute since I’ve read an older book - today’s technology would have made this an entirely different story.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Geen slecht verhaal maar God komt er te veel in voor.

[Gayle Cappelluti · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not one of my favorite Meissner books, as it tended to tackle too many subjects, and then cover them only on the very surface. However, what it did pay close attention to is how we tend to blame ourselves for things that happen in life over which we really have no control, and how we tend not to turn to G-d when only He can give us peace. Meissner does a good job of telling the story of friends who grow apart as life gets in the way, but who later turn to each other in times of need. She also does a fairly good job of covering death and loss and how we react differently to it.
I did enjoy the way she handled faith in this book, something we don't often see in an entertaining read. Can we turn to G-d when life deals us a mean blow, even if we haven't made it a lifelong practice? Can a faithful friend turn our hearts to G-d in such a situation? Is it ever too late to let go and let G-d? These are questions that filled my mind as I read about Tess, a young woman who has been filled with grief since birth when she lost her mother, but doesn't seem to realize that this is precisely why her life has been held in a stalling pattern. What must change for her before she is able to trust the man who loves her and join him in marriage? What must she learn and what changes must she make? These are some of the issues you will discover when you read this enjoyable novel of friendship, love and loss.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a book that made me think. I described it to someone and they told me it sounded depressing. The description makes it seem so, but it was not a book that brought you down. "The danger and beauty of invisible wounds is that everyone thinks you're fine." It is about a journey the main character takes to find happiness that has always seemed to evade her.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book should be categorized as Christian fiction, which is not a genre that I generally read. However, this one was very enjoyable without being preachy. Will look into requesting the author's previous books. I recommend it.

[Hannah Roseborough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very powerful story! Different than other books I have read in the past. My only problem was the number of flashback in the beginning. There were a few too many for my taste but other than that this book was amazing!

[Jerianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully done. Loved it.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable book but had some messages I needed right now.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! However, it became a little slow in the middle. But it was a great read anyway! I really like Susan Meissner. Different type of Christian fiction-more realistic.