Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh (2023) is set in a small village in France in 1951 with a population of about 4,000. The novel is based upon a true event in the town in southern France called Point-Saint-Esprit – which means the Holy Spirit Bridge. On 15 August 1951, more than 250 people were affected by an outbreak of poisoning with psychotic symptoms. Subsequently, four people died and about 50 were institutionalized in an asylum. Many theories arose about the source of the poisoning, but none were proven. This novel is loosely a fictional account of the poisoning event. The narrator Elodie, of an unknown age, is the wife of a baker of an unknown name. He bakes the bread, and she sells it. For conversation, she meets the women of the town at the local laundry to wash their clothes. There, she befriends Violet. Violet, of an unknown age, is the wife of a wealthy ambassador of an unknown name. He conducts official business and she accompanies him wearing fine clothes.
FEAST OR FAMINE
REJECT GREED; TREAD LIGHTLY; CARE LOCALLY; RESPECT DIVERSITY ... by Martina Nicolls