Cursed Bread
A Novel
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3.6 • 12 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION NOMINEE • Best Book of the Month: The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Book Riot, CrimeReads • An elegant and hypnotic new novel of obsession that centers on the real unsolved mystery of the 1951 mass poisoning of a French village, by the Booker Prize–nominated author of The Water Cure
"Intoxicating, sumptuous, and savage.”—Alexandra Kleeman, acclaimed author of Something New Under the Sun
Still reeling in the aftermath of the deadliest war the world had ever seen, the small town of Pont-Saint-Esprit collectively lost its mind. Some historians believe the mysterious illness and violent hallucinations were caused by spoiled bread; others claim it was the result of covert government testing on the local population.
In that town lived a woman named Elodie. She was the baker’s wife: a plain, unremarkable person who yearned to transcend her dull existence. So when a charismatic new couple arrived in town, the forceful ambassador and his sharp-toothed wife, Violet, Elodie was quickly drawn into their orbit. Thus began a dangerous game of cat and mouse--but who was the predator and on whom did they prey?
Audacious and mesmerizing, Cursed Bread is a fevered confession, an entry into memory’s hall of mirrors, and an erotic fable of transformation. Sophie Mackintosh spins a darkly gleaming tale of a town gripped by hysteria, envy like poison in the blood, and desire that burns and consumes.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the intense but muddled latest from Mackintosh (Cursed Bread), a pent-up woman falls for a set of newcomers to her remote French village a few years after WWII. The narrator, 30-something Elodie, anachronistically calls herself "matron-adjacent" compared to the younger sexed-up Violet, who arrives with her unnamed husband. Elodie's husband, a baker, won't have sex with her, and her longing is heightened after a party when she overhears Violet's husband tell her "I know you want to fuck him" (about Elodie's husband), and "If you eat the bread, you'll die." The idea of another woman wanting Elodie's husband excites her, as does the virility of Violet's own husband, and before it's all over, Elodie comes close to sleeping with both. Along the way, she exchanges gossip with neighbors, and flash-forwards anticipate a wave of madness and deaths in the town. An author's note alludes to inspiration from a mass poisoning in 1951 Pont-Sant-Esprit, but Mackintosh's account remains gauzy; though the cause of the deaths is revealed at the end, big questions remain, including whether Violet and her husband are figments of Elodie's imagination. Though evocative at first, the riffs on desire grow repetitive and fail to illuminate the material. This is a misfire.
Customer Reviews
Confusion
I had a hard time taking in the tiny clues as to the future for Elodie. They were sufficient to create the awareness of impending doom. I am saddened by the manipulative nature of Violet. I sometimes feel I am the Elodie person in the relationship. The machinations of Elodie’s brain are profound. She seems to capture the equal and opposite qualities of feelings and desires. Quite well presented actually.
Barb