The Harpy
Ratings14
Average rating3.2
Lucy and Jake live in a house by a field where the sun burns like a ball of fire. Lucy has set her career aside in order to devote 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 shattering message: his wife has been having an affair with Lucy's husband, Jake. The revelation marks a turning point: Lucy and Jake decide to stay together, but make a special arrangement designed to even the score and save their marriage'she will hurt him three times. As the couple submit to a delicate 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. Told in dazzling, musical prose, The Harpy is a dark, staggering fairy tale, at once mythical and otherworldly and fiercely contemporary. It is a novel of love, marriage and its failures, of power, control and revenge, of metamorphosis and renewal.
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Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with a digital ARC.
I am not usually a fan of the cheating husband trope so I wasn't sure how much this book was going to suit me! It lacked a little bit of clarity I would've appreciated but Hunter weaves together a story about revenge & obsession.
We first meet Lucy in the monotony of her life. She has taken over the role of all the domestic tasks while her husband has the ability to focus on his work. Lucy soon discovers that Jake, her husband, has been having an affair with one of his coworkers. As they grapple with how to move on Jake suggests that she hurt him three times and that they will be even.
As Lucy begins to hurt Jake she realizes how much joy it brings her to cause him this much pain. It brings up her memories of her childhood obsession with the harpy.
Overall, I did enjoy this story! I do have a soft spot for morally grey women and Lucy definitely fits right in.
