Cursed Bread set against the backdrop of a mass poisoning of a French village. The story is about obsession, greif and friendship between Elodie, the bakers wife and Violet, a new woman in the village. It took me a little while to understand the style of writing. But once I did I enjoyed it and it was worth persevering for the ending when it all unravels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"We are so often wrong about the ones we love, slowly debasing ourselves, so gradually we barely notice we're doing it"

Cursed Bread is a story about obsession, longing and grief set against the backdrop of a mass poisioning in a French Village. The story focuses mostly on the 'friendship' between Elodie a disillusioned bakers wife and Voilet the ellusive new comer. The story tracks the friendahip in the lead up to the climax of the poisioning. As much as this is about Elodie and Voilet the secondary characters of the village are really well fleshed out and you definitely start to understand the dynamics of the village. You feel the monotony of the day to day through the setting of the bakery and how Voilet and her husband 'the ambassador' through the town into fascination and turmoil. It took me a little while to understand the rythem of the story but it was worth preserving with. The descriptions of the madness is terrifying and the cat and mouse game between Voilet and Elodie builds the intensity. Elodie is a relatable character in that her life and marriage has not turned out to be what she imagined and she clings to Voilet.
Overall I really enjoyed this, the complexity of the characters, the historic backdrop, the build up to what feels like the enivatble and the aftermath. If you have liked Sophie Mackintosh's works before then definitely pick this up.

I went into this book perhaps having read the blurb at some point, but having no memory of it whatsoever which I think was a fun way to approach it. I started reading during a stormy blackout, lending an eerie atmosphere to the whole experience. I’m actually almost at a loss of how to talk about this book, because I think picking it up completely ignorant is almost the best way to go.

So let me drop some vagaries: it’s a short novel, a novel of obsession, new friendship, jealousy, and desire. It’s a mystery, based on a real historical event, the details of which I won’t share as it’s the best part, but the atmosphere of the novel is unique to the comparative joy of life in the post-WWII era.

It was a novel that confused me; it alternates between narrative and epistolary form, with our main character writing letters to the object of their obsession in the present day, while the events of the story take place at a point in the recent past. We have to work to piece together what has happened, and it only comes together at the end.

Highly recommend!!

I loved this novel, from its post-war France setting to its cast of characters to its structure.
Elodie as the baker's wife is a fantastic creation, bored and frustrated with her safe lot in life, she falls under the spell of Violet and her husband the Ambassador. A fascination which becomes obsession and develops into something deeply unhealthy for all involved.
This is my first Mackintosh, although I have been aware of her from Booker Prize lists in the past, and I found her style of writing both gorgeous and unsettling - as we weave both forwards in Elodie's first person narrative and backwards in her second person epistles to Violet, we descend into something dreamlike and feverish alongside the municipal mundanities of washing clothes in the lavoir with other women.
A fantastic thrilling read.

Having enjoyed the author’s two previous novels a great deal, I was very much looking forward to Cursed Bread.

Whilst I wasn’t disappointed, I very much doubt whether Sophie Mackintosh could write anything that was less than excellent, this third novel did not have the seductive, unnerving atmospheres of The Water Cure and Blue Ticket.

I had some knowledge of the real-life events on which Cursed Bread is based and was waiting for them to start. I waited. And waited. And then waited a bit more. It wasn’t until the last quarter of the novel that they happened, the majority of the story focusing on a baker’s wife Edolie and Violet, a newcomer to the small French town.

I enjoyed the writing but at the end I was left wondering how the treatment of the relationship between the two women really served the real-life events. I wondered if there was some feminist statement here about women and witchcraft/unexplained happenings, but I don’t think there was. The ellipses of her previous novels added to your disquiet as a reader, here they felt quite frustrating and mannered.

the main word that comes to mind when thinking of this book is menacing. it creeps along, twisting elodie's past and present narratives to slowly unwind the events of the book. she is obsessive and voyeuristic, keeper of the town's secrets, and one of the most unsettling narrative POVs i have read since lapvona (complimentary).

i can understand the lower ratings and why people may have struggled with this - it isn't a style of writing that is to everyone's taste. i'm also gutted that the cover of this book has been changed from the sepia-toned proof cover i have seen, which represents the book so much better and would help get it into the hands of the right readers.

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book, but found the writing style very hard to connect with. I didn't feel I could understand what the narrator, and ultimately Mackintosh was trying to convey a lot of the time, which consequently left me feeling detached and removed from the characters. Not my cup of tea I'm afraid.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

I really wanted to love this, but struggled with it. There’s no doubt that it is written well, but the obsessional theme and eroticism feel almost adolescent and the fact that there is no real context of time or place or persona doesn’t work for me. I get that it’s about irrational impulses but it feels a bit like a pastiche of a David Lynch film and is very self-aware. I feel like the narrator would not be able to retell so vividly what happened and not then have some kind of changed perspective. Not for me but that’s totally subjective and I’m sure others will enjoy the dreamy otherworldliness.

“Pain becomes an animal, walking at your side. Pain becomes a home you can carry with you”

If Shirley Jackson, Angela Carter and Margaret Atwood’s writing somehow had a love-child, it would be Sophie Mackintosh.

Cursed Bread, based on a real tragedy in 1950s rural France, shivers with the undercurrent of a seemingly calm lake. The plot swirls around you and leaves you breathless, disorientated and lost at sea by its conclusion. Reading it feels like being underwater and never coming up for air.

Our protagonist, Elodie, dulled by the banality of everyday life; whose master-breadmaker husband is disinterested in her, becomes obsessed with a new couple in town. Her narration practically rips through the page with feminine rage and burning desire. Her untrustworthy recall of events - which she herself admits - makes for a topsy-turvy read, one in which nothing is as it seems.

Mackintosh’s prose is jam-packed with imagery: beautiful and sometimes brutal metaphors are interwoven in lyrical structure with countless gut-punch sentences to boot. It is sometimes uncomfortable and jumbled, but this only makes for a novel that leaves you thoroughly mystified.

If you are a fan of experimental literary fiction and don’t much mind getting to the root of the story, then this is your must-read novel of 2023.

Beautiful use of language, obviously a talented writer. However, the hazy atmosphere and shifts between reality and imagination were a bit much for me, as was the eroticism. I was very interested in the mass hysteria the book was based on, and although there was much alluding to it, the actual hysteria was just a small section at the end. It didn't really come together for me.

An unusual and strange book, but nevertheless I enjoyed it. Very creepy, interesting characters. At times the vagueness and dreaminess of the writing made it difficult for me to follow the story-line. Solid 3 stars, good characters and interesting to se it was "loosely" based on a true story - I wasn't expecting that at all! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I sure what to expect going in, as I liked The Water Cure, but didn’t finish Blue Ticket, however I enjoyed this. The title really draws you in; the concept of cursed bread is interesting, as it’s a staple foodstuff that you should be able to trust.

It’s a great length, at less than 200 pages, and is fun, sexy and the right level of creepy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I adored Sophie's debut book The Water Cure, it was my fav book the year it came out. But I didn't love her second novel Blue Ticket. I was still excited to read this though, but I think Sophie's books are not for me.

Loosely based on the real life mass poisoning of French town Pont Saint Esprit in 1951, where people became severely ill from eating poisoned bread or "cursed bread" I thought this sounded like a great plot. But actually this doesn't happen until about 80% in. I actually didn't mind the last 20% of the book. But up until then it's very confusing and I wasn't sure what was going on.

The bakers wife, Elodie is transfixed by a new couple who arrive in town, the ambassador and his wife Violet. Elodie is in an unhappy marriage and is drawn to the mysterious newcomers who practice S&M. She has a strange friendship with Violet, but it all comes crashing down in the end.

While I can appreciate it is beautifully written, it just wasn't for me and a bit too weird.
2.5 stars

Cursed Bread is a triumph. What a debut; it’s clever, disturbing and although based loosely on a true story, it’s original. It’s dark in many places; Eloide is obsessive and determined to find a better life. The narrative is through her eyes and the strange thoughts that pass through her head as she sights her targets.

It’s eloquent and haunting and I was immediately drawn in to a strange world, one I didn’t fully understand but, found absolutely compelling. There are some moments of horror and it almost strays into fantasy, but somehow remains grounded. A remarkable and affecting tale and this author is one I shall look out for.

Hypnotic, hallucinatory, obsessive and erotic.

Cursed Bread is a story based on a true, unsolved mystery involving a mass poisoning in a French village in 1951. The residents of Pont-Saint-Esprit collectively start to lose their minds. Hysterical and bizarre, suffering from hallucinations. Some believe it was caused by spoiled bread, others believe it was the result of government testing on the local population.

Our protagonist, Elodie lives an unremarkable existence, the wife of the town baker, she yearns to be extraordinary. When an American Ambassador and his partner, Violet move to town, Elodie finds herself hypnotised and enthralled by the couple. She stalks them through the streets, invites herself into their home, eavesdrops on their conversations. But what is Elodie’s role in all of this? And who is this mesmerising couple?

A dark tale on obsession, desire, envy and a town plagued with hysteria.

This book made me think of some Middle Age chronicles that talk about what happened when people ate food mixed with ergot.
It's a strange story but it's also a fascinating story and I loved the style of writing.
A fascinating story, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I’d not a clue what was going on but I did really enjoy this dreamlike and obsessive novel. For a long time I wasn’t sure when or where it was set, searching for the clues that led to postwar France, and for a long time I felt there were vague Lapvona vibes “Sometimes reality peels back like the skin of an orange” Violet, the village incomer and subject of the baker’s wife Eloise’s obsession, says. That just about sums it up.

When I saw a new Sophie Mackintosh available, I had to request it. I love her writing and cannot get The Water Cure out of my head.

Cursed Bread is certainly written in true Mackintosh style with beautiful imagery despite the dark themes. This particular work is based on a real life occurrence in France which gives it a whole new level of bizarre feeling. As with all Mackintosh books, I could reread this multiple times and find new themes and trains of thought coming out of it.

My only criticism is that the allusions to what was to come felt a little forced. This could of course be personal preference, it also may be inescapable in a book that is leading to a known, real-life, event but something about knowing it was coming made the pacing feel off. This is the only reason I am knocking off a star. I am equally aware that upon reread I may feel entirely differently.

I will be purchasing a copy for my shelves because Sophie Mackintosh is just such a magnificent writer!

I ordered this because I enjoyed one of her previous book Blue Ticket.

I found this book very strange and at the end of it wondered “what was the point”. As someone else said he foray into sexually charged gothic didn’t work for me.


“(Violet picked apart a candied raspberry, her lipstick worn off in the middle. A hole in her stocking that she curled her toe around to hide, an imperfection that made my heart sing.) “

Thanks to Netgallery for the ARC

Perhaps a case of me not the book but mackintosh’s writing fails to captivate the moving subject matter in a way I found enjoyable. The characters felt sketched not fleshed, but the spatial recognition was definitely interesting and experimental in its take of place/ space.

The authors note explaining the inspiration for the narrative confirmed my disappointment in the storytelling. There were certainly individual sentences that moved me but the opaque quality of the narrative failed to engage in the subject matter deeply enough.