Sophie Mackintosh spins a dark tale of a town gripped by hysteria. Elodie, the baker’s wife, is largely ignored by her husband and everyone else.
One day a charismatic couple appear – the ambassador and his sharp-toothed wife – and Elodie falls under their spell. Meanwhile, six horses are found dead in a field. Widows see their lost husbands walking up the river in the night, coming back to claim them. A teenage boy throws himself into the bonfire at the midsummer feast. An intoxication is spreading through the town, and when Elodie finally understands her role in it, it will be too late to stop.