Arachne Manteia is a road rider, a traveling sales rep who drives a classic Mercedes and peddles women's underwear for a living. From her working class childhood to her comfortable adult life, Arachne refuses the conventional and embraces whatever adventure fate throws in her path.
A rogue sales rep with a man in every town, she lures each into her web of desire. All of them she claims as part of her never-ending journey, which promises fulfillment but offers no map for her longing. Always ready to fight and flee, Arachne Manteia is the quintessential picara, skillfully reckless, frighteningly irresistible, ready to go to the edge of the mappable world and beyond.
Aritha van Herk was born in central Alberta, and studied at the University of Alberta. She first rose to international literary prominence with the publication of Judith, which received the Seal First Novel Award and which was published in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe. She is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and a professor who teaches Canadian Literature and Creative Writing in the Department of English at the University of Calgary.
"A picaresque adventure on one level, and a searching investigation of Canadianness, especially on the Prairies."
— Globe and Mail
"A splendid ripe momentum."
— Toronto Star
"A deliciously woven tale."
— Ottawa Citizen
"A densely suggestive world. . . . There are tenderly passionate scenes, absurd farce, directly realistic detail in landscape and a general exhilaration in the novel's view of the enigmas of human personality."
— Windsor Star
"Van Herk's sense of the West is palpable. And her language is muscular."
— Quill & Quire
"Arachne Manteia is a truly wonderful character."
— Border Crossings
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