02171cam a2200313 i 4500 1144791443 TxGeo 20240209120000.0 220223s2023||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2022005436 9780385548304 hbk. 0385548303 hbk. (OCoLC)1373611968 TxGeo rda Mackintosh, Sophie, author. Cursed bread : a novel / Sophie Mackintosh. First United States edition. New York, NY : Doubleday, [2023] 190 pages ; 22 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier "From the Man Booker-nominated author of The Water Cure comes an elegant and hypnotic new novel of obsession that centers on the real unsolved mystery of the 1951 mass poisoning of a French village. Still reeling in the aftermath of the deadliest war the world had ever seen, the small town of Pont-Saint-Esprit 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 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"-- Provided by publisher. -h0:. 20240215. Poisoning France Fiction. Pont-Saint-Esprit (France)vFiction. Thrillers (Fiction.) QS5