Cursed Bread

World War II has just ended, and the tiny French town of Pont-Saint-Esprit is experiencing collective delusions and illness. Elodie, plain as can be, is the wife of the town baker. Most residents do not give her a second look, and why would they? But then an ambassador and his sharp-tongued, glamorous wife, Violet, move into town. Elodie is immediately swept into their world, beginning a game of cat and mouse. When people start experiencing hallucinations and dying, there are speculations that it could be poison, a government testing program gone awry, or perhaps something even more sinister. Based loosely on actual events, the latest from Booker Prize longlisted–Mackintosh (The Water Cure) offers a dreamlike imagining of what might have happened during that time, employing a hypnotic, hazy atmosphere to blur the boundaries between fiction and reality. Narrator Genevieve Gaunt performs stunningly as a young housewife under the influence of others’ power, intrigue, and desire.