The Harpy
by Megan Hunter· 2020
The Harpy is a tale of love, betrayal and revenge.
Lucy and Jake live in a house by a field where the sun burns like a ball of fire. Lucy works from home but devotes her life to the children, to their finely tuned routine, and to the house itself, which comforts her like an old, sly friend. But then a man calls one afternoon with a message: his wife has been having an affair with Lucy's husband.
The revelation marks a turning point: Lucy and Jake decide to stay together, but in a special arrangement designed to even the score and save their marriage, she will hurt him three times. Jake will not know when the hurt is coming, nor what form it will take.
As the couple submit to a game of crime and punishment, Lucy herself begins to change, surrendering to a transformation of both mind and body from which there is no return.
The Harpy is a fairy tale, at once mythical and contemporary. It is a novel of love, marriage and its failures, of power and revenge, of metamorphosis and renewal.
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The Harpy is a tale of love, betrayal and revenge. Lucy and Jake live in a house by a field where the sun burns like a ball of fire. Lucy works from home but devotes her life to the children, to their finely tuned routine, and to the house itself, which comforts her like an old, sly friend. But then a man calls one afternoon with a message: his wife has been having an affair with Lucy's husband. The revelation marks a turning point: Lucy and Jake decide to stay together, but in a special arrangement designed to even the score and save their marriage, she will hurt him three times. Jake will not know when the hurt is coming, nor what form it will take. As the couple submit to a game of crime and punishment, Lucy herself begins to change, surrendering to a transformation of both mind and body from which there is no return. The Harpy is a fairy tale, at once mythical and contemporary. It is a novel of love, marriage and its failures, of power and revenge, of metamorphosis and renewal.