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Cursed Bread review: ‘A world of surreal happenings’

Strange occurrences abound with the arrival of newcomers in a small town. Sophie Mackintosh’s Cursed Bread is a dark tale of obsession, suspicion and growing hysteria

Ambiguity also lies at the heart of Sophie Mackintosh’s novel Cursed Bread. Elodie, a baker’s wife, becomes obsessed with the glamorous new couple who move into her town: the ambassador and Violet. Elodie falls into a kind of hazy, confused love for Violet, while the community around her revels in suspicion of the new couple. Written with an almost fearfully dispassionate tone, Mackintosh creates a world of surreal happenings in a most regular setting: strange occurrences build up in this town while Elodie becomes more and more deluded in her fantasies of love and lifestyle. Everything seems to happen with a ‘sickening inevitability’ which is evidently Mackintosh’s distinct style. Mackintosh is a powerful and skilful writer, though it’s not a novel for the light-hearted or, indeed, the easily bemused.  

Patrick Maxwell is a journalist and writer 

Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh is out on March 2 (Penguin, £16.99).You can buy it from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops.

Cursed Bread cover

This article is taken from The Big Issue magazine, which exists to give homeless, long-term unemployed and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income.To support our work buy a copy! If you cannot reach your local vendor, you can still click HERE to subscribe to The Big Issue today or give a gift subscription to a friend or family member. You can also purchase one-off issues from The Big Issue Shop or The Big Issue app, available now from the App Store or Google Play.

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