The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers by Laury A Egan | Book Review & Guest Post | #Novellas #MagicalRealism #Memories @ireadbookstours @laurya.egan @EganLaury
A book blog tour from iRead Book Tours.
Thank you to the author, publisher, & Lauren at iRead for providing me with the information for this tour. 
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Book Details
The Black Leopard's Kiss & The Writer Remembers: A dizzyingly imaginative and captivating pair of magical realism literary novellas by Laury A. Egan
Published by Spectrum Books on December 16, 2023
Genres: Adult Fiction 18+, Literary Fiction, Magical Realism
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 307
Source: iRead Book ToursFeaturing magical realism and "Orlando"-esque touches, the two linked novellas plunge the reader into the slippery world of an aging writer as she delves into her half-remembered childhood and re-experiences volatile relationships.
The swirling structure, with its interwoven narratives and warping time periods, deals with the treacherous nature of memory and how an author, Sidonie Ross, returns to the past in order to illuminate and understand it; how unhealed wounds from childhood re-surface in adult consciousness like emotional thorns, especially those relating to shame, guilt, disappointment, betrayal, and rejection.
Content Rating: PG + M. Language is moderate; scenes of attempted incest and lesbian encounter.
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Purchase Links for The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- A. Egan, Laury (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 307 Pages - 12/16/2023 (Publication Date) - Spectrum Books (Publisher)
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My thoughts on The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers
Laury A. Egan’s “The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers” explores how treacherous memories can be. Through two linked novellas, Egan skillfully weaves a narrative rich in mystery and laced with touches of magical realism.
The story delves into the depths of protagonist Sidonie Ross, offering a character study that navigates seamlessly between the past, present, and future. The unearthing of childhood wounds and their haunting resurgence in adult consciousness adds a poignant layer to this evocative exploration of the human psyche.
Egan’s intricate storytelling captivates, making this work a compelling journey through the complexities of memory and self-discovery.
I received a copy of the book for the tour. This review is my honest, unbiased opinion.
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I love to read books through my Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscription.
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About Laury A. Egan
Laury A. Egan is the author of eleven novels, The Firefly; Once, Upon an Island; Wave in D Minor; Turnabout; Doublecrossed; The Swimmer; The Ungodly Hour; A Bittersweet Tale; Fabulous! An Opera Buffa; The Outcast Oracle; and Jenny Kidd; in addition to a collection, Fog and Other Stories. Four limited-edition poetry volumes have been published: Snow, Shadows, a Stranger; Beneath the Lion’s Paw; The Sea & Beyond" and Presence & Absence."
She lives on the northern coast of New Jersey.
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Memory and Fiction
A Guest Post by Laury A. Egan, author of The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers
As we age, the future becomes increasingly truncated, filled with fewer possibilities, and the past becomes lengthened and more stuffed with experiences. The tendency to recount old stories from youth is therefore understandable, especially since those times still gleam with freshness whereas current and future experiences appear less exciting. In fiction, these dives into nostalgia can be wistful, as in two of my recent novels, The Firefly and Turnabout, or they might delve into painful memories, some of which have been forgotten or partly repressed.
In the two linked novellas, The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers, an author, Sidonie Ross, is sixty-four, seventy, and also inhabits her childhood persona at different ages. This unusual structure, with its magical realism time transformations, allowed me to explore youth and older age intermittently, to show how we paper over some occurrences, yet they remain semi-buried thorns that still prick us later in life despite our inability to fully recall what happened. As one reviewer, Dr. Helga Shier, wrote, “Characters peel off layer after layer of age and façades accrued in a lifetime until emotional truths are revealed.” And on the other side of life’s spectrum, the older incarnations of Sidonie are faced with a barrage of problems.
An author is able to don many hats and behave in ways that are antithetical to one’s personality, history, and character. Trying on different types of people is fascinating, but in The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers, I granted myself the additional luxury of unleashing my imagination and flying beyond the usual constraints of fiction. As a result, these two novellas challenged me, but they also presented difficult challenges for my primary narrator, Sidonie, as she returned to uncomfortable places in her past while dealing with a distressing present. Because I needed to “accompany” her, I had to immerse myself in her feelings.
Despite some of the demanding scenes and the traumas revealed, I hope readers will take a chance on this unusual book, described by author Vincent Traughber Meis as, “a triumph in terms of elegant language, emotional character analysis, and innovative structure.”
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Easy Amazon Links
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- A. Egan, Laury (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 307 Pages - 12/16/2023 (Publication Date) - Spectrum Books (Publisher)
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Official Tour Page for The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers
Full Tour Schedule:
an 15 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book review / guest post
Jan 15 – fundinmental – book spotlight / author interview
Jan 16 – Cover Lover Book Review – book spotlight
Jan 17 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – book spotlight / guest post
Jan 18 – FUONLYKNEW – book spotlight
Jan 23 – Kim’s Book Reviews and Writing Aha’s – book review
Jan 24 – Celticlady’s Reviews – book spotlight
Jan 25 – Casia’s Corner – book spotlight
Jan 26 – Casia’s Corner – book review
Jan 26 – Liese’s Blog – book spotlight
Jan 30 – Gina Rae Mitchell – book review / guest post
Jan 31 – Cheryl’s Book Nook – book spotlight
Feb 1 – My Reading Getaway – book review
Feb 1 – Book Corner News and Reviews – book review / guest post
Feb 2 – Amy’s Bookshelf Reviews – book review
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Thank you so much for featuring “The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers” on your blog post and for including the wonderful review and my guest post. So kind!