News & Events

On Saturday 8 February 2025, Leonora will be launching her fourth novel Mbaqanga Nights in Teddington, London. Mbaqanga Nights is set between 1800s Ukraine and 1980s South Africa, and covers the topics of repression, emigration, jazz and the power of choice. The event will also serve as a fundraiser for Restart Foundation, a mental health charity Read More

On Friday 6 May 2022, Leonora will be launching her third novel And Breathe at the Teddington Arms Pub in Teddington, SW London. The event will also serve as a fundraiser for Ukrainian aid, and Leonora's daughter Valentina will speak about her experiences in Ukraine during the recent invasion. The new novel has a leading Read More

In January 2022, Leonora met up with fellow writer and podcaster Emma Carmichael, to be a guest on Emma's podcast: Travelling Through… London, the World and Life. Emma is the author of "Driving Tito" - an autobiographical adventure about driving a Zastava car almost 5,000 kilometres around the Balkans on her own. Emma also founded Read More

On Friday 12 May, Leonora will be launching her second novel The Unity Game at a riverside venue in Teddington, South West London. The novel is Literary Fiction & Science Fiction. Location: The Anglers Pub, Teddington, TW11 9NR Time: Reception drinks & food from 6pm. Book launch event from 7pm - 8pm. Everyone is welcome. If Read More

On Friday 28 April, the Teddington Waterstones Book Club will host an author event with Leonora Meriel. Leonora will speak about her debut novel The Woman Behind the Waterfall, and will answer questions from the group. Location: Landmark Arts Center, Teddington, TW11 9NN Price: £5 / £3.50 concessions Date and Time: Friday 28 April at Read More

The book club of The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, a beautiful legal hideaway located in London's literary hub of Bloomsbury, chose The Woman Behind the Waterfall as their book for November. There was a lively discussion of the novel with several members who had greatly enjoyed it, and several who hadn't taken to the multiple narrators and Read More

The Richmond Magazine has featured "The Woman Behind the Waterfall" in their Literary Locals feature, along with 5 other writers in the borough. Editor Fiona Adams calls the novel "a literary work of art".

In November 2016, Leonora wrote a guest blog for author services website Reedsy where she describes her transition from CEO of a cutting-edge company to indie writer and writing entrepreneur. Read the full blog entry here.

On 4th November in Waterstones Covent Garden, Leonora Meriel joined two debut novelists Amy Kitcher and Mari Reiza to read the first chapter of her novel to an audience of book lovers. The event was filmed and the video will be published on the Novel London website in early 2017.

Interview with Anna Morgan of Ukrainian Events in London with review of book. Discussing Ukraine. "Since the 2014 revolution in Ukraine, many new books have been written about the country, primarily focused on its history, national identity, and sadly – the ongoing war with Russia. The book we are talking about today is something very different. Leonora Read More

Leonora talks about why Teddington is the perfect place for a writer, with its beautiful deer parks and peaceful river. Thank you for the support and all are welcome at the book launch on October 13.

The upcoming publication of The Woman Behind the Waterfall has been announced in the local press by Kingston Time & Leisure magazine. Thank you for the support and all are welcome at the book launch on October 13.  

The Woman Behind the Waterfall was reviewed in Volume LXXXIV of the prestigious US review journal Kirkus Reviews. The reviewer called the debut novel "a classic tale of love and loss". Read the full text here.        

The Woman Behind the Waterfall is now on sale from October 1 2016. Click here to find out where you can get your copy.