Vile Lady Villains

Vile Lady Villains is a stunningly original novel, dense and dark and overwhelmingly magical. It's a daring blend of borrowed stories, recreating characters we thought we knew, and giving them the full, unfettered life they deserve. Lovers of Shakespeare and Greek myth will be enchanted

Louisa Morgan, The Faerie Morgana

In confident, luscious prose, Christopoulou creates an enthralling liminal quest, where two of literature's most infamous female villains reclaim their stories—and fall irrevocably in love. I was spellbound from the very first page and could hardly breathe as the ending neared. Heart-rending, atmospheric and unmissable.

Kika Hatzopoulou, Sunday Times bestselling author of Threads That Bind

Danai Christopoulou’s Vile Lady Villains is part classical theatre compressed into a jewel-box of metafiction, part living painting: its palette supersaturated with passion, poetry, and portent. Her familiar protagonists, Claret and Anassa, like two firebirds of blood and spirit, arise entwined from the wreckage of their own tragic narratives, pursued by fates, furies, and the chance at something better.

C. S. E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Saint Death’s Daughter

A rollicking ride through time and space, drawing together two women from very different worlds. With prose as sharp as a blade and as rich as blood, Christopoulou has created a deeply satisfying story.

Luna McNamara, author of Psyche & Eros

A richly intertextual narrative about writing your own story rather than the one that is written for you, Vile Lady Villains reimagines the powerful women of literature and myth. Christopoulou brings two iconic characters together for an adventure that will delight, inspire, and surprise. Teeming with queer tension and sparking with anger and joy in equal measure, this is a rare and exciting work of feminist literature.

Elyse John, author of Orphia and Eurydicius

Vile Lady Villains is a dazzling, daring reimagining of two of literature’s most infamous women. Lady Macbeth and Klytemnestra, long cast as monsters, murderers and cautionary tales, step out of the shadows to reclaim their stories, their hunger and their power. This beautifully told novel pushes the retelling genre into bold new territory. It asks, what happens when women denied the role of hero seize the stage for themselves? In a world that punishes female ambition, their battle for survival – and for their voices to be heard – feels more urgent than ever. Vile Lady Villains asks not whether women can own their darkness, but what brilliance is born when they finally do.

Kim Curran, author of The Morrigan and Brigid

Brilliantly clever and wickedly tender, this is a delightful feast for anyone who adores literature. Christopoulou weaves a masterful tapestry of iconic stories, while challenging both characters and readers to imagine a new ending entirely, changing them from a tragedy to a comedy.

Lauren Dedroog, author of A Curse of Crows and A Dance of Serpents

I was mesmerized from the beginning of Vile Lady Villains by the enchanting prose and the vivid characters who jumped out of the page and grabbed my attention with their complicated personalities. This is a story about defying identities and redefining what it means to follow one's destiny. Christopoulou challenges our perceptions about Klytemnestra and Lady Macbeth and shakes to the core the underlying misogynist narratives that have permeated their stories for centuries. And in the centre of it all, you find a magical love story.

Ioanna Papadopoulou, author of Winter Harvest

Christopoulou not only shakes up the canon but dissects it, respins it and weaves it into a stunning tale of vengeance and redemption with unapologetically emotional women at its forefront. Reassessing the role of female characters in some of our most established stories and examining the act of storytelling itself, Vile Lady Villains is here to reclaim the narrative. I loved it!

Bea Fitzgerald, the Sunday Times bestselling author of Girl, Goddess, Queen