Book Title: The Psychologist's Shadow by Laury A. Egan
Category: Adult Fiction (18+), 336 pages
Genre: Psychological Suspense
Publisher: Enigma Books, imprint of Spectrum Books, UK
Release date: Nov 18, 2023
Content Rating: PG-13. One scene of violence, no sexual scene
In October 1992, Dr. Ellen Haskell begins a new therapy practice in Princeton after a tragic error with a former client. Demoralized by her failure, Ellen strives to restore her emotional and professional confidence. Her parents have departed for Greece, leaving Ellen alone in their secluded country house. As the reader is introduced to her roster of clients through their individual sessions, Ellen becomes unnerved when she receives hang-up phone calls and a series of bizarre gifts from an anonymous admirer—at first at her office and then at home. As the obsessive lover increasingly invades her life, Ellen’s anxiety crescendos and she begins to fear the stalker’s behavior will escalate into violence.
The Psychologist’s Shadow is a portrait of a compassionate, introspective therapist who finds herself in a dangerous struggle with an unknown stalker. The novel is a simmering literary suspense, one in which tension accumulates as the reader gains insights during sessions with clients—one of whom may be the psychologist’s shadow—and through the stalker’s journal entries, which serve as a discordant counterpoint.
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An Interview with Laury A. Egan, author of The Psychologist’s Shadow
1. What was the inspiration for writing your novel?
The inspiration for the novel originated in my college interest in psychology. During my later years at Carnegie Mellon University, I selected all of my course electives in that field. Upon graduation, the head of the university’s counseling center, who had been one of my professors, urged me to apply to a master’s program, with the goal of embarking on a career as a therapist. I was tempted but didn’t go that route, yet I continued to read books and to follow changes in psychology. When I began this manuscript in 1992 (a second novel except for a childhood effort), my goal was to meld my interest in psychology with my writing, depicting how a therapist would react in sessions and what her thoughts would be during them as well as during her private life. In other words, I was able to take the road not taken and try on a career I hadn’t chosen. In addition, when I first began writing fiction, I was reading all of Patricia Highsmith’s psychological suspense novels, so this genre felt like a natural choice.
2. The cover illustration—one of your photographs—is very dramatic. Why did you select the Venetian masks as a subject?
Dr. Ellen Haskell, the therapist, has a wall in her office devoted to her collection of Venetian masks. The clients face the masks during sessions and sometimes use them during therapy, for role-playing. The masks are also interwoven into the mental imagery of the stalker, so a still-life study was very appropriate. At home, I have a collection of masks purchased during multiple visits to Venice, and once the novel was written, I bought the dagger to add an ominious note. As a former book designer, I was also able to create the design and typography—something my publisher, Spectrum Books—has kindly allowed me to do for this title; a previous one, The Firefly; and two forthcoming publications. Nothing pleases me more than marrying my book design and photographic experience with my writing.
3. Describe your writing area and its location.
My office is in a guest room (seldom used for visitors), with a wall of bookcases built around a window facing the road and a forest beyond. Behind and around me are walls of my photographs as well as a childhood portrait my mother created when I was almost twelve, an image I’m using on a forthcoming literary work (December 2023), The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers. I have rolling tables on two sides and a twin bed—all of which are piled high with manuscripts, books, correspondence, and numerous notes to myself (most of which I throw out later because I can’t recall what the notes were about). On the far side of my house, is a view of the Atlantic Ocean, the Manhattan skyline, and an enormous expanse of sky. This view is very similar to my childhood house, which was situated one town north. When I returned to the area in 1995 (coast of New Jersey), I felt a renewed passion for writing and vowed I would begin working in earnest, inspired by being reunited with the beautiful location.
4. Who are your favorite authors?
As mentioned, Patricia Highsmith was an early influence, although my first novel, written when I was twelve, was a reworking of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. I’d seen the musical Oliver! in New York and had become so entranced that I read Dickens’ novel several times. Currently, my favorite authors are Kate Atkinson, who is a brilliant plotter, stylist, and laugh-out-loud funny, and Mari Hannah, though I’m also on a Scandi-Noir binge mixed with some UK books, most in the suspense/mystery category. Outside of these, Virginia Woolf was a major influence. My novel, Wave in D Minor, featured a young composer writing an opera about the relationships between Vita Sackville-West and Violet Trefusis and between Sackville-West and Woolf. For the sporadic lyrics, I attempted to write in the style of the women, using their letters and journals—and, yes, I had a splendid time doing so! The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers incorporates a Mrs. Dalloway-style beginning and has Orlando-esque touches of magical realism. So, when I’m in a literary mood, Woolf is perched on my shoulder.
5. What are you next projects?
My new publisher, Andrew May, has become a wonderful colleague and friend, who enthusiastically accepted four manuscripts over this last year, thus clearing off my desk except for one early work that may remain unpublished. The first book, The Firefly, is a coming-of-age portrait and a romance, which appeared in August. The Psychologist’s Shadow is the second. Before Christmas, two linked novellas, The Black Leopard’s Kiss & The Writer Remembers, will be published—this is a work of which I’m very proud. Next April, I return to psychological suspense with Jack & I, the story of a teenage boy with dissociative identity disorder. The book is narrated by the “host” and then the “alter” personality, the former in first person and the second in third person. This manuscript required a great deal of research on symptoms and treatment of DID as well as on New Jersey’s foster care system (Jack is an orphan). I hope these next two outings will interest readers who love unusual projects.
6. If you could have three authors to dinner (living or dead), who would you invite?
First, Kate Atkinson. I’m certain she is a brilliant raconteur, especially after a glass or two or three of wine. Second, Virginia Woolf, though I would be so intimidated that I would simply listen to whatever she said. Third, perhaps Damon Galgut, a South-African author who creates solitary individuals touched by sadness. I’d like to know what makes him tick.
Thank you!
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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Thank you so much for featuring The Psychologist's Shadow and the Interview! Very kind and very helpful!
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