From the moment I first read the blurb for "The Harpy" on NetGalley, I was intrigued. I love contemporary fiction that incorporates an element of magical realism, and I have long been fascinated by Greek mythology, particularly the female figures who were often seen as dark, troubling and vengeful - Medusa, the harpies, the sirens, etc.

The novel centres on Lucy, who has received a phone call informing her that her husband Jake has been cheating on her with his glamorous older colleague, Vanessa. For the sake of their sons, Lucy and Jake come to a strange arrangement - they will stay together, but Lucy can enact a form of revenge on Jake three times, and he won't know how she'll hurt him or when it's coming. But living this way starts to take a dark toll on Lucy, and she finds herself pushed to the limits of her own sanity...

I loved how The Harpy is, on the surface, a simple tale of revenge, but how it actually explores so much more than that - female empowerment and disempowerment, the challenges of motherhood and marriage, the consequences of infidelity, and the dark implications of what we each are capable of in order to feel in control.

There was nothing about this book that I didn't like. I found myself getting more and more drawn in the further in I got, and I absolutely hated having to put it down to make a meal or go to bed! The prose is dazzling, the characters are complex and beautifully drawn, and I loved the harpy element, which lifted this into something intricate and timeless. Love, love, loved it - it's going straight onto my Christmas gift list for all my reader-friends. I am already looking forward to rereading this myself - I think it will be one of those novels that provides so much more with each reread. A fabulous book, and a very gifted writer - I can't wait to read more from Megan Hunter!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher, who provided me with a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A novel which absolutely lives up to all the hype - this has left me stunned.
Lucy has given everything to her husband Jake - she gave up any chance of a career to raise their children and look after the home as she thinks a good wife should. So when she finds out Jake has been having an affair with an older colleague, it opens up a darkness within her that she had tried to keep at bay, her dark obsession with the Harpy, a bird with a woman’s face who enjoys torturing her prey. Lucy agrees to stay in their marriage if she can hurt Jake, a total of three times, however she wishes and without any warning. But who will be the monster at the end?
Let me begin by saying that the writing is as beautiful as that cover - simple but almost lyrical, so rhythmic that I felt like the book had cast a spell on me. This is a fairly short novel, and for that I was grateful as I wanted to swallow it all in one gulp. There is so much to love about this book - the blurred lines between right and wrong, the way the blame and disgust seesaws between Jake and Lucy until you believe they will devour each other if they stay married. The absolutely spot on insights into the mundanity of raising children and running a household. The reminder that even if you can pretend nothing has happened, neighbours and friends will be there to remind and judge you.
This story is an absolute work of art - chilling and dark, and Hunter cleverly leaves the ending open to our own twisted imaginations. Hunter is a revelation to me -brilliant.

Lucy's seemingly happy home life with her husband Jake and two young sons is suddenly shattered when she finds out that Jake is having an affair with a much older woman at work.  As she tries to come to terms with the changes at home Lucy also begins to recall aspects of her childhood, including the violent relationship between her parents and her own obsession with the mythological Harpy.

This book turned out to be rather different to what I was expecting from the 'blurb', but it was a good read, though a little uncomfortable at times in view of the subject matter.  An intense, short, sharp story about infidelity and identity, beautifully written.

Oh this was a wild ride, after our main character finds out about her husband has been cheating on her with a mutual friend, they both try and deal with it together and without their two kids having to find out. But as they are trying to be happy families the cracks are showing so to help with the heartbreak, our main characters does 3 revenge plots to hurt her husband. The further in the story the further the revenge plots get more worse the repercussions are. Until we reach the final chapter where something happens to our main character that is very wild.

3.5/5

Lucys husband Jake has been cheating on her, with his colleague Vanessa. A woman much older than him.
From this moment Lucys life is turned upside down. Her husbands cheating reveals long repressed memories and fears from her childhood and youth as well as self-dissatisfaction. She comes to an understanding with Jake which eventually gets out of control.
The story is quite dark and intense but very poetic and beautifully written.

This book is the very definition of a domestic noir. It is dark, intense and at times slightly perverse but it is most definitely good. The language is almost poetic and the descriptions of domestic mundanity are quite perfectly observed. The premise for this story in someways seems quite simple but the further you read the more thought provoking and deeper it becomes. The mythical Harpy plays her role perfectly as she flies along beside the narrative casting her shadow over the story and the lives of Lucy and her family.

Lucy and Jake have a perfectly balanced life in their comfortable home with their two children, until one day Lucy receives a phone call...The caller leaves a message saying that her husband is having an affair.

Lucy and Jake decide to stay together but in order to balance the pain out it is agreed that Lucy can hurt Jake three times. Jake will not know what form and when this will take place. But will this be enough to save their relationship?

What an amazing concept this was! This was a fabulous exploration of modern life, marriage and relationships - with a darkness that most of the contemporary books I usually read do not contain. As someone who does not usually enjoy magical realism I appreciated how multidimensional this book was - mythology, revenge and psychological thriller all in one. The Harpy made me feel weird in such a good way and I am looking forward to reading more from Megan Hunter

I'll be honest and say that this took me ages to read as I kept stalling at various points. I don't think thats a problem with Megan Hunter.s writing more with me. Its very thought-provoking especially from the male perspective and does get exceptionally dark. Well-written but not quite up to the standard of The End We Start From, for me at least.. Still excellent, though
Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to review it.

I devoured The Harpy in an evening drawn in by the domestic noir and fabulist world of Megan Hunter's protagonist Lucy.

On its surface, The Harpy is about a marriage that breaks down when Lucy's husband, Jake, is revealed to be having an affair with an older woman. Lucy learns of the betrayal when the husband of the woman Jake cheated on her with leaves a voicemail informing her, rather coolly, of what has been going on. At first both Lucy's reaction and the affair itself are almost banal in their commonness. How many stories have we read of affairs and the fallout that occurs when they happen? But Hunter adds a fresh take by giving Lucy a unique form of revenge. Lucy and Jake decide that, as penance, Jake will allow her to hurt him three times, he won't know when the hurt is coming or what it will be. Lucy's vindictiveness in carrying out these acts is at times shocking particularly when juxtaposed with her perceived role as the wronged wife and loving mother. And it's this conflict between the image portrayed to the outside world and the reality of Lucy's internal and somewhat twisted existence that really interested me.
Lucy is a suburban housewife, she works as a freelancer but her work is unfulfilling and her children are no longer at the stage where they are completely dependent on her. The affair is the last straw, it's an affront she cannot bear after she feels she has held up her end of the bargain and it makes her into someone or rather something quite disturbing.

This book provided an exploration of womanhood, motherhood and to an extent mental health as well as the dynamics of a marriage particularly one in crisis. It's impressive that Hunter was able to touch on all these themes in what is a relatively short work.
Hunter's language is at times poetic particularly in the sections relating to the harpy of the book's title. And while I really enjoyed the writing and would be interested to read what Hunter writes next, when the book got surreal it sometimes verged on the farcical and I struggled to stay in the story. There were also characters I felt were underdeveloped though this would have been down in no small part to the fact that we are viewing this story from Lucy's limited perspective.
Overall I thought this was a good read and well worth your time particularly if you like domestic noir, lyrical writing and unreliable narrators. 3.5*s

Many thanks to NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for early sight of The Harpy. I have reviewed on the Waterstones website and posted on Instagram and Twitter. I will also review on Amazon on its release.

For a slim novel The Harpy manages to achieve such a lot. Hunter does something genuinely interesting with the story of a woman scorned, interweaving the completely believable marriage of Lucy and Jake with snippets on the mythical harpy. I raced through this in one sitting, and particularly enjoyed Lucy’s wry observations on mundane social encounters. A sharp, bittersweet novel.

Thank you to the publisher for the digital copy of this book in exchange for review. I very much enjoyed the majority of this short novel. A fast paced tale following a bitter mother’s experience of disappointment, betrayal and revenge. It succeeded in creating an uncomfortable and fascinating atmosphere as the main character came apart. However the ending felt suddenly odd and didn’t appear to fit in with the tone of the rest of the book. So was a bit unsatisfying. However the majority of the book was enjoyable.

I really like Megan Hunters books. The Harpy was fascinating and I read it in one sitting. It's a very unique book and had me totally engrossed. It seems like a dark fairy tale for grown ups.
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

"The Harpy" is described as being a modern dark fairytale, demonstrating the power of women, motherhood and betrayal. And, from that description, I should have loved it. Sadly, it didn't quite do it for me. I love books about revenge, particularly when that revenge is being exacted by unlikeable characters with a legitimate axe to grind. But, in 'The Harpy,' what should have been the crux of the book feels like its weakest plot point. The revenge that the narrator exacts on her cheating husband is cruel - and warranted. But the reader is left feeling like it needs more.

One of the strongest aspects of the book are the beautifully written, almost dreamlike, prose. This is especially so when the narrator reflects on motherhood and what it takes from a woman. How being a wife and a mother can strip a woman of ambition and expectation in service to another and transform you into something else entirely.

The theme of the narrator's obsession with The Harpy is fascinating, but eventually it feels a bit overplayed. While you can see what Hunter is trying to get at, it just feels a bit too much by the end of the book.

I loved 'The End We Start From,' so I'm annoyed that I didn't enjoy 'The Harpy' as much. However, judging from the rave reviews it's been getting, I think Megan Hunter will be fine, whatever I thought of it.

"The first harpies I saw were almost faceless, their eyes pale slits, their hair thick black lines, flying in shapes behind their heads. Like my hair, I used to say as a child, touching the page, the hair, the skeletal wings. No, my mother said, frowning. Not like you at all."

This book was nothing like what I expected. The more I read, the less important the actual plot became and the more enthralled I was by the beautiful imagery and the metaphor of the harpy.

Megan Hunter has created a really stunning work of fiction about revenge, madness and the mythological creature of the harpy. The ending will leave you perplexed and wanting more, a book I was truly unable to put down.

Thank you #Netgalley and Picador for the ARC. #TheHarpy

I found this such a unique read! It's multi-faceted with modern life and its difficulties entwined with mythology. The best way to describe it is magical realism.

It's a story about a woman who finds out her husband is having an affair. This is devastating for her and her life spirals out of control. They decide that she can hurt him 3 times to get even but will this heal the wound or will it cause her to lose touch with reality?

"I asked my mother what a harpy was, and she told me: they punish men for the things they do"

I've always been fascinated by Greek and Roman mythology and I think this was such a clever way of telling the story. The writing is very lyrical and it's a fast read. The ending just left me frustrated! I want to know what happened to Lu and Jake!

Thank you to NetGalley, Pan MacMillan and Picador for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

In it’s opening pages Lucy’s finely tuned evening routine, feeding her children, enjoying alone time if her husband Jake is caught out by unruly train timetables on his evening commute is shattered when she receives an unexpected phone call: the caller delivers the news that her husband has been having an affair with a university colleague. To save their marriage they agree on a special arrangement- Lucy can hurt him back, whenever and however she pleases, three times.

But can retaliation really lead to forgiveness? As Lucy allows herself the pleasure and release of hurting Jake she confronts the deeper implications of the affair, the destruction of trust, the embarrassment of sympathetic friends, the loss of a companionable intimacy.

There is more to Lucy than the complacent housewife her husband, and her own patriarchal ideals have conjured. Through accompanying dazzling prose that seamlessly interweaves with the main narrative, we uncover a younger Lucy’s fascination with the mythical figure of the Harpy. This ancient beast, a monstrous bird of prey with the head and body of a woman, serves in the Homeric poems as agents of punishment, cruel and violent they epitomize an innate female rage.

It is this contrast that truly makes the novel stand out. That of the very real world of marriage, family, and motherhood with its focuses on compassion, even in the face of the extreme sadness, hatred, envy, and betrayal that mark even the most ordinary of lives. While the boundless expression of an uncompromisingly hostile Harpy displays the freedom, yet dehumanisation, that comes from giving in to base desires of destruction. As the novel progresses it becomes hard to distinguish where Lucys thaughts end and the Harpy’s begin.

The Harpy gives ordinary issues a fantastical lens that transforms a story of infidelity into a dreamlike exploration into the deepest dark depths of marriage, feminity, and the possibilities of forgiveness.

This was a very dark quick read. I enjoyed the setting and initial plotline of this book, however it lost me towards the end with the more fantastical elements regarding the harpy.
I believe this was a well written book just not what i was expecting.
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Lucy thought she was happily married with her being a homemaker and looking after their boys while Jake works to provide for them. Until that phone call, that is. The phone call which changes her world...

She finds out Jake has been having an affair with an older colleague and they decide she can hurt him three times to get back at him and then they will be able to get their marriage back to what it was. What follows is dark and disturbing. Lucy's childhood fascination with harpies returns - mythical monsters which are half bird/half human which dish out punishment where needed.

She picks three ways to get back at Jake, each one more disturbing than the last. The story is thought provoking and dark. I found the ending too abrupt and slightly weird. I sort-of enjoyed the story.

Thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'll admit it, I requested this book because of the title. I have been fascinated with Harpies ever since I was young. I don’t know if it’s because they are part bird or if it’s their sheer unadulterated, irrational feminine rage, but I’ve always thought they were really cool. Maybe that’s really strange but I'm guessing I’m not completely alone because Lucy, the main character in this story also shares this fascination.

Lucy finds out that her husband has been having an affair with an older co-worker. This betrayal causes her to look for ways to balance the scales, repaying her emotional pain with the infliction of physical harm on her husband, with his agreement. As a reader we get a deep insight into Lucy's feelings about the affair, her husband, and her own identity as a mother. I think much of what Lucy feels will resonate with any woman in her 30s who has young children and has made sacrifices to put her husband and children first. If we don’t know this woman, we are this woman. Lucy is an intelligent and accomplished woman who has stepped back from her own potential so that her husband can progress his own. This makes his affair with a colleague all the more jarring and unfair.

This book is a rather twisted and disturbing exploration of a modern marriage and motherhood and it goes to some seriously dark places. It is quite interesting as so much of the events in the novel are couched in normal and mundane situations, which makes the events all the more startling taking place as they do in this environment of normality.

I found myself feeling deeply uncomfortable at various points in the book. It was difficult not to empathise with Lucy but at the same time she was not always easy to like and much of her actions seemed complete irrational. The story starts to unravel towards the end which perhaps correlates with Lucy's own journey, but I felt like the novel’s coherence also started to come undone. This was perhaps a deliberate choice made by the author, but it just made everything rather silly and not in a good way.

I suspect this book will be deeply polarising to most readers, and I wonder if male readers will be much less sympathetic to Lucy's situation than female readers, particularly those with husbands who are a waste of space and have found themselves in a similar situation to Lucy. I liked the interspersions of the Harpies and Lucy’s affinity to them and it was clear to see why they resonated with her to such a degree.

Overall, I felt that this was an interesting read, but I am not sure if it quite worked for me in the end. There is a point when a character’s reaction to the problems in their lives transcends any believable course of action. Touted as part revenge tale, part fairy-tale I’d say it achieves the revenge, the fairy-tale? Not so much.

Lucy is a married mother of two who finds out her husband Jake has cheated on her with an older woman. Distraught, they agree that Lucy can cause harm to Jake three times, whenever she wishes, without retaliation, to make up for the infidelity. Yeah, this marriage will go the distance…

The premise intrigued me as did the harpy angle - I thought it’d be this interesting modern dark fairy tale - but unfortunately it turned out to be a very dull story with some trite allusions to harpies scattered through mundane scenes of domestic strife.

The premise of Lucy harming Jake doesn’t develop beyond the surface and I came to view it for what it is: astoopid. I mean, is their marriage meant to be “fixed” after the husband has domestic violence enacted on him multiple times? Of course not - there’s no path to happiness for them there! They’re a horrible couple who are obviously unhappy and shouldn’t be together. The answer shouldn’t be violence but a tacit understanding that their marriage is over and they’ll see other people and decide whether to continue to live together for the kids’ sake or not.

That’s only a small part of the book though - most of it is Lucy rambling on about the stresses of motherhood and being dissatisfied with her work. It ain’t gripping reading and she doesn’t say anything remarkable about either. And then there’s the wishy-washy ending [where she goes into a cop-out trance state with some vague rubbish about being raped and witnessing domestic violence in her own parents which, I guess, are meant to excuse/explain her shitty behaviour towards her husband (hide spoiler)]. It’s an attempt by the writer to go for an arty ending but it feels like she simply didn’t know how to end her crap story and the overall impression is very unsatisfying.

Megan Hunter’s The Harpy is a wasted premise and a boring novel.