Vile Lady Villains

DIVE INTO THE WORLD-BURNING HORROMANTASY, BRINGING TOGETHER LITERATURE'S MOST FAMOUS LADY VILLAINS, LADY MACBETH AND KLYTEMNESTRA . . .

For fans of A Dowry of Blood, Clytemnestra, and Piranesi, Vile Lady Villains is an unforgettable ride into the realm of stories

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THE WORLD MISTAKES YOU BOTH FOR VILLAINS


You are Lady Macbeth.

You have plotted your king’s death and now you need to flee.
You turn to the Three Witches for help, but their spell casts you out into a unrecognisable new realm.

You fall through a door only to stumble upon another woman’s blood-soaked triumph: you meet Klytemnestra as she stands over her husband’s corpse.

But as this Queen of Mycenae mistakes you for a spirit, she chases you through another mysterious door into the world of stories.

Hunted by wraiths in an unfamiliar land determined to destroy you both, you are forced into alliance.
Castles crumble. Myths collide. In the chaos, your dark rivalry gives way to a fiery attraction no one could have predicted.

To survive, you must choose: return to the tragedies that define you, or burn those stories’ pages and rewrite your ending, together . . .

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Praise for Vile Lady Villains:-

Cathartic and deeply romantic, Vile Lady Villains is the iconic queen crossover of my dreams! Claret and Anassa’s empowering journey through harrowing trials, innovative dreamscapes, and murky choices builds like a fever breaking into a celebration of vicious women, second chances, and taking control of your story. - Leanne Schwartz, author of A Prayer for Vengeance and To a Darker Shore

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