A rapid fire read that ticked many of my boxes!
I know this is a slightly polemic debate amongst book readers - but personally if I see on the first page that a book (one that's less than 200 pages particularly) uses no speech marks, then my interest is quickly piqued.
On the surface, this is the story of the mass poisoning of a village. But underneath is a complex layering of desire, envy, and mistrust. Not much takes place here plot wise, we follow our narrator through her village life day after day, but each character (even those who remain unnamed) shines in their own right.
In such a short novel, I was impressed that Mackintosh managed to get across the intensity of her characters' feelings. The husband's apathy formed a stark contrast to Violet's sharp interest and I enjoyed truly not knowing what was going to happen next even as things spiralled downwards.
A few dramatic events that took place scattered throughout the story didn't quite make sense to me, I felt that they weren't full explained in light of the whole poisoning saga but I appreciate sometimes you've got to take creative license for the vibes.
I have another of Mackintosh's books on my TBR so fingers crossed for another good one!