Sophie Mackintosh

This is the story of an affair. Clara and Francis are in love, but nobody knows it. For months they have been slipping away from their respective lives, sharing stolen afternoons in hotel rooms, their time together painfully sweet and all too short. Until one day they wake up in a bedroom neither of them recognises with no memory of how they got there. They find themselves in a strange and unfamiliar city: a place where adulterers can live openly as couples, without fear of consequence, putting the theory of their love into practice. Here the sky is painted over the old town square in changeless, cloudless blue. Ripe fruits wait on the table each morning and the sunset comes down in a blaze of pink each night. And contact with the real world is impossible. As long as Clara and Francis are here, they only have each other. How do you know when you've found true love? How much would you sacrifice to keep hold of it? And how long can you stay in paradise before the cracks start to show?

From one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists, the critically acclaimed author of the speculative dreamscapes The Water Cure and Blue Ticket, comes the story of a clandestine affair and an alternate city designed to foster it... Clara and Francis are in love, but nobody knows it. For months they have been stealing away from their respective lives, leaving no trace of their relationship behind. Their time together is always excruciatingly sweet and all too short. Until one day they wake up in an apartment neither of them recognizes, with no memory of how they got there. The Other City is a self-contained sanctuary where adulterers live openly as couples. Here there are fountains and old town squares and perfect cafes with checkered tablecloths. Ripe fruits wait on the counter each morning, invisible threads bind each lover to the other, and their primary responsibility is to enjoy one another. Contact with the real world is impossible and the city's whims are mysterious--but now those stolen afternoons can last forever. How much would you sacrifice for a life you never thought possible? And how long can you stay in paradise before the cracks start to show? An exploration of desire, novelty and choice, Permanence explores the tantalizing quandary of what, if anything, can withstand the daily toll of "forever"?

WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION NOMINEE - Best Book of the Month: The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Book Riot, CrimeReads - An elegant and hypnotic new novel of obsession that centers on the real unsolved mystery of the 1951 mass poisoning of a French village, by the Booker Prize-nominated author of The Water Cure "Intoxicating, sumptuous, and savage."--Alexandra Kleeman, acclaimed author of Something New Under the Sun Still reeling in the aftermath of the deadliest war the world had ever seen, the small town of Pont-Saint-Esprit collectively 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 mesmerizing, Cursed Bread is a fevered confession, an entry into memory's hall of mirrors, and an erotic fable of 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.

GRANTA BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELISTSLONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2023LONGLISTED FOR THE NOTA BENE PRIZE 2024From 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 shimmering fever-dream of a novel' TelegraphSpring, 1951. Four people meet in a small French town: the baker and his wife; the ambassador and his wife. Two belong to the town, two are outsiders. Some time later, strange things start happening. Horses drop dead in the fields. Children grow wild and unbiddable. Ghosts are sighted after dark. Someone is playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse – but who is the predator and who their prey? Audacious and mesmerizing, Cursed Bread is a darkly erotic mystery about a town gripped by madness, envy like poison in the blood, and desire that burns and consumes.'A dreamy sapphic romp' The Times'Gauzy [and] gripping, a quietly rich maturation of Mackintosh's skill' GuardianThe Spectator Book of the Year 2023

From the Booker-nominated author of The Water Cure and Blue Ticket comes a chilling new feminist fable - an eerie and erotic historical mystery about desire, memory and madness 'Definitely don't miss the return of Sophie Mackintosh' Stylist 'Be sure to read everything Sophie Mackintosh writes' Deborah Levy In 1951, still reeling in the aftermath of the deadliest war the world had ever seen, the small French town of Pont-Saint-Esprit succumbed to a mass poisoning. Some historians believe the mysterious illness was caused by spoiled bread. Others claim it was the result of covert government testing on the local population. In the years before the disaster, there lived in the doomed town 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 quickly fell under their spell. Thus began a dangerous and intoxicating 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. Praise for Sophie Mackintosh: 'An extraordinary debut - otherworldly, luminous, precise'Guardian on The Water Cure 'Dreamlike, tense, compelling, with a pitch-perfect ending' The New York Times on Blue Ticket 'An unsettling dark fantasy... It lingers long after the final page' Daily Telegraph on The Water Cure 'Blue Ticket will worms its way under your skin and haunt your dreams' Red

Ursula K. LeGuin meets The Road in a post-apocalyptic modern classic of female friendship and intimacy. Deep underground, thirty-nine women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only a vague recollection of their lives before. As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl-the fortieth prisoner--sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground. Jacqueline Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1929, and fled to Casablanca with her family during WWII. Informed by her background as a psychoanalyst and her youth in exile, I Who Have Never Known Men is a haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic novel of female friendship and intimacy, and the lengths people will go to maintain their humanity in the face of devastation. Back in print for the first time since 1997, Harpman's modern classic is an important addition to the growing canon of feminist speculative literature.

BY THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE-LONGLISTED AUTHOR OF THE WATER CURERECOMMENDED READING by Stylist, Evening Standard, Esquire, Red, Daily Mail, Oprah Magazine, LitHub, and Emma Roberts's Belletrist Book ClubFor fans of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun... 'Definitely don't miss the return of Sophie Mackintosh' Stylist'The cool intensity and strange beauty of Blue Ticket is a wonder - be sure to read everything Sophie Mackintosh writes' Deborah LevyCalla knows how the lottery works. Everyone does. On the day of your first bleed, you report to the lottery station to learn what kind of woman you will be. A white ticket grants you children. A blue ticket grants you freedom. You are relieved of the terrible burden of choice. Or, to put it another way, you have no choice. And once you've taken your ticket, there is no going back. But what if the life you're given is the wrong one? Blue Ticket is a devastating enquiry into free will and the fraught space of motherhood. Bold and chilling, it pushes beneath the skin of female identity and patriarchal violence, to the point where human longing meets our animal bodies. 'Dreamlike, tense, compelling, [with] a pitch-perfect ending' The New York Times'Gripping, ethereal, atmospheric' Sunday Times'Thoughtful and haunting' Observer'Terrifying and enchanting in equal measure' LitHub'Blue Ticket will worms its way under your skin and haunt your dreams' Red

From the author of the Booker Prize longlisted novel The Water Cure comes another mesmerizing, refracted vision of our society: What if the life you're given is the wrong one? "Blue Ticket adds something new to the dystopian tradition set by Orwell's 1984 or Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale." --New York Times Book Review Calla knows how the lottery works. Everyone does. On the day of your first bleed, you report to the station to learn what kind of woman you will be. A white ticket grants you marriage and children. A blue ticket grants you a career and freedom. You are relieved of the terrible burden of choice. And once you've taken your ticket, there is no going back. But what if the life you're given is the wrong one? When Calla, a blue-ticket woman, begins to question her fate, she must go on the run. Pregnant and desperate, Calla must contend with whether or not the lottery knows her better than she knows herself--and what that might mean for her child. With Blue Ticket, Sophie Mackintosh has created another mesmerizing, refracted vision of our world that explores the impossible decisions women have to make when society restricts their choices.

"A gripping, sinister fable " --Margaret Atwood, via Twitter ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR - GLAMOUR - GOOD HOUSEKEEPING - LIT HUB - THRILLISTKing has tenderly staked out a territory for his wife and three daughters, Grace, Lia, and Sky. Here on his island, women are protected from the chaos and violence of men on the mainland. The cult-like rituals and therapies they endure fortify them from the spreading toxicity of a degrading world. But when King disappears and two men and a boy wash ashore, the sisters' safe world begins to unravel. Over the span of one blistering hot week, a psychological cat-and-mouse game plays out. Sexual tensions and sibling rivalries flare as the sisters are forced to confront the amorphous threat the strangers represent. A haunting, riveting debut, The Water Cure is a fiercely poetic feminist revenge fantasy that's a startling reflection of our time.

Writing From the Hampstead Ladies' Pond. A collection of writing on the much-loved Ladies' Pond by the women who swims there. Big name contributors include Margaret Drabble, Esther Freud, and Leanne Shapton and newer voices such as Sophie Mackintosh. Tucked away along a shadt path towards the north east edge of hampstead Heath is a sign: Women Only - Men Not Allowed Beyond This Point. This is the Kenwood Ladies Bathing Pond, the only wild swimming spot in the UK just for women.

Grace, Lia and Sky live in an abandoned hotel, on a sun-bleached island, beside a poisoned sea. Their parents raised them there to keep them safe, to make them good. The world beyond the water is contaminated and men are the contamination. But one day three strangers wash ashore - men who stare at the sisters hungrily, helplessly. Men who bring trouble.'An unsettling dark fantasy... [It] lingers long after the final page' Daily Telegraph.