Reviews

Cursed Bread takes the mass poisoning of the French town of Pont-Saint-Esprit in 1951 and imagines the lives of the townspeople in the lead up.

Like all Mackintosh’s writing, the prose is faultless, the story embellished with beautiful and original detail.

Although I have read all 3 of her books and rated them each 4 stars, every time being greatly impressed by her writing style, I’m not sure what it is that makes her books to me ultimately a little forgettable or blurring into one another. I think the author’s strength is in writing about desire, painting internal portraits of suppressed women. This is all consuming in its power, ultimately taking over and eating away at any plot. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, and I admire her ability to capture desire on the page in the way she does, but I guess maybe books stay with me more when they go beyond the body. Not sure, will anyway continue to read whatever she writes next.

jessmegan's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

fr444n's review

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated

3.75

marbo's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

compelling towards the end I suppose? this was just… not good I’m sorry. It was really cheesy, laughable and juvenile, intensely boring and heavy handed. An attempt at an unreliable narrator but fails to create satisfying composition between her characters - everything is ugly and cruel in a way that leaves no space for real feeling or juxtaposition. Pale Fire if it was bad. I think I am just tired of reading the same book over and over again. would not recommend

sarahvictorialittle's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Some seriously stunning prose. A very unreliable narrator but her characterisation is masterful, she represents those of us who are always within things, watching and listening, but also completely outside of it all. Somewhat slow at the beginning, but it was all foreshadowing and building to the climax, and everything was paid off when the horrors of her story became clear. A terrible terrible book, in the best possible way.

More...