LoveReading Says
Deeply dark and complex, this fascinating novel teases into a downward spiral of obsession and delusion. Set after the Second World War in France, the baker’s wife Elodie becomes infatuated with a new couple who arrive in town. I began the proof of this novel just knowing that it was to be an” eerie historical mystery about desire, memory and madness”, once I reached the end, the Author’s Note made lightbulb sense and if there is no more explanation to come with the finished copy then I’m not sure whether to advise that you sneak a peak at the note or wait until you’ve finished the book. So, I would suggest that if you are happy to exist in a dream or nightmare-like world full of envy and desire not knowing where reality sits then wait, if you’d rather have a little knowledge before starting so you can make a somewhat ordered sense of proceedings, then take a look at the note. Personally I’m glad I didn’t have the pre-knowledge. At times I wasn’t sure whether I was existing in Elodie’s memory or delusion, so felt as though I was floating above the novel. It actually ensured that I didn’t overthink, I just soaked up the words. I loved knowing that this was written during lockdown, author Sophie Mackintosh uses those strange times to create the most fascinating of worlds. At times Cursed Bread was painful to read, I flinched and almost wanted to read between my fingers. With an ending that strikes with a powerful energy, Cursed Bread is a bewitching and darkly provocative novel.
Liz Robinson
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Cursed Bread Synopsis
From the Booker-nominated author of The Water Cure and Blue Ticket comes a chilling new feminist fable, based on the true story of an unsolved historical mystery...
If you eat the bread, you'll die, he said. The statement made no sense, but it filled me with an electric dread.
Elodie is the baker's wife. A plain, unremarkable person, largely ignored by her husband and everyone else, she burns with the secret hunger to be extraordinary, to be desired, to be seen. One day a charismatic new couple appear in town - the ambassador and his sharp-toothed wife, Violet - and Elodie quickly falls under their spell. All summer long she stalks them through the shining streets: inviting herself into their home, trying to decipher their coded conversations, longing to possess them at any cost.
Meanwhile, beneath the tranquil surface of daily life, strange things are happening. Six horses are found dead in a sun-drenched field, laid out neatly on the ground like an offering. Widows see their lost husbands walking up the river in the night, coming back to claim them. A teenage boy throws himself into the bonfire at the midsummer feast. A dark intoxication is spreading through the town, and when Elodie finally understands her role in it, it will be too late to stop.
Audacious and mesmerising, Cursed Bread is a fevered confession, an entry into memory's hall of mirrors, a fable of obsession and 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.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780241539613 |
| Publication date: |
2nd March 2023 |
| Author: |
Sophie Mackintosh |
| Publisher: |
Hamish Hamilton Ltd an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
181 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Historical Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Sophie Mackintosh Press Reviews
Sensuous and haunted, like Madame Bovary reworked as a ghost story - an incredible book about desire, pleasure, beauty. Sophie's fiction always has a gauzy quality, filled with strange, languid images, which rise to a narrative crescendo like clues in a detective novel. She makes it look effortless -- Jo Hamya, author of 'Three Rooms'
Sophie Mackintosh takes a true story and asks what any of us really know about what is true? Our desires poison us. Shame and longing intertwine. We hide even from ourselves... This novel is subtle and devouring; reading it is like being slowly swallowed by the night -- Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of 'Starling Days'
PRAISE FOR BLUE TICKET:
'Its cool intensity and strange beauty is a wonder - be sure to read everything Sophie Mackintosh writes' -- Deborah Levy, author of 'Hot Milk' and 'The Man Who Saw Everything'
