Cover art of Aura by Sarah Best: https://www.sarahbestny.com/
The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes requested Aura for consideration in the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose category.
One of Buzzfeed’s News “17 Recent And Upcoming Books From Indie Publishers You Need To Read”
Winner of the big other reader’s choice award and a Finalist for the Big Other Book Award for Nonfiction (2023)
“A truly exceptional, deftly crafted, and inherently fascinating life story, “Aura” will have a very special appeal to readers with an interest in contemporary literary nonfiction and women’s studies.” –Midwest Review
“Aura is an incandescent, gripping, and wholly original work of lyrical nonfiction that encapsulates the fierceness of a mother’s love. It’s a book that’s certain to be instructive and inspiring for writers working within the memoir genre. But beyond that, Aura is a salve, a gift for anyone who’s stared down the darkness, stepped into its open mouth, and taken a deep breath.”-Southwest Review
Finalist for the 2020 Big Other Book Award for fiction and a finalist for the 2020 Big Other Reader’s Choice Award
winner of Entropy’s “Best Fiction Book of 2019”
“Hillary Leftwich has a knack for titles. Her new collection has arguably the best one I’ve encountered this year: Ghosts Are Just Strangers Who Know How to Knock. In it, she combines surreal fiction, sharply-composed poetry, and taut nonfiction into an unpredictable and compelling whole”-Tobias Carroll, Vol. 1 Brooklyn
Hillary is available for speaking engagements, workshops, readings, book club visits, and more. email her for a request. Photo by lighthouse writers.
Breaking down abuse
“But the most striking aspect of Aura might be its depictions of living with abuse. The popular image of the abused woman is a woman who is completely alone, out on an island. But the reality is often something very different. Hillary has people around her. Parents. A brother and sister, somewhere, and friends. Why isn’t anyone doing anything to help? Why do they just let this happen? But that’s the nature of the beast: an abuser will psychologically isolate you, make you feel ashamed and responsible, scared to reach out. You’ll think it’s all your fault; you’ll think you’ve made your bed, so you should lie in it, that people will judge you if you share. Sometimes it’s even worse if you do share. After escaping with her son to a women’s shelter and spending some time there, Hillary does eventually go back to his father. It’s a horrifying episode, but it’s emblematic of what so many people get wrong about domestic abuse: the police often do nothing. Trying to get out of an abusive relationship with limited resources, no money, anything save an absolute identity wipe and witness protection program, often exposes the abused to much worse consequences.” (Mila Jaroniec, Southwest Review, Oct 2022).
Hillary Leftwich 