The Porpoise is a novel by English author Mark Haddon published in 2019, best known for his first novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

[1] The story begins when the unborn baby's mother is killed when a light-aircraft crashes, triggering her birth.

Born into "part of a global aristocracy" since Hellenistic times, her father Philippe treats his daughter Angelica as a sexual plaything.

An art dealer Darius opens her eyes on her dependency on her father.

[2] The novel has glimpses into Angelica's life but the bulk of the narrative is based around Pericles, his wife and his daughter Marina with asides to Jacobean London with Shakespeare and the co-author George Wilkins.