The Harpy by Megan Hunter. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via Netgalley included. No affiliate links used. Read my full disclosure policy here.
From the blurb, we know that Lucy’s life is turned upside down when a man calls and tells her that his wife has been having an affair with Lucy’s husband, Jake.
Lucy and Jake decide to stay together, but come to an arrangement that will allow Lucy to hurt him three times. Jake won’t know when the hurt is coming or what exactly it will be. Lucy is determined to make the punishments fit the crime.
Told from Lucy’s point of view, we see her drawn more and more to the myth of the harpy. In her hunt for revenge, she is forced to confront things about herself that she would rather continue to ignore. Ignoring things is easier. Yet here she is, planning to deliberately hurt her husband.
The Harpy is a strange and wondrous fairy tale that seamlessly blends the domestic with the otherworldly. It is dark. It is unsettling. It is full of rage. It is surreal. It is unputdownable.
At just over 200 pages, Megan Hunter has packed a lot into The Harpy. Yet none of it feels rushed. Hunter has written a compelling and immersive story about love, marriage, betrayal, revenge, womanhood, and motherhood.
The Harpy by Megan Hunter is published by Picador, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, and is available in hardback, ebook and audiobook format. The paperback edition is published on May 13th.