GRANTA BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELISTS 2023From the Booker Prize-nominated author of The Water Cure comes a chilling new feminist fable based on the true story of an unsolved mystery...A recommended read for 2023 in The Times, Guardian, Irish Times, Scotsman, iD, Good Housekeeping, Big Issue and Our Culture''A shimmering fever-dream of a novel'' Telegraph''A dreamy sapphic romp'' The TimesIf you eat the bread, you''ll die, he saidThe statement made no sense, but it filled me with an electric dread.Elodie is the baker''s wife. A plain, unremarkable woman, ignored by her husband and underestimated by her neighbours, she burns with the secret desire to be extraordinary. One day a charismatic new couple appear in town - the ambassador and his sharp-toothed wife, Violet - and Elodie quickly falls under their spellAll summer long she stalks them through the shining streets: inviting herself into their home, eavesdropping on their coded conversations, longing to be part of their world.Meanwhi