7.30pm, Thursday 7th May 2026
Join us in-store to celebrate the paperback launch of The Women Are Not Fine by Hope Reese, in conversation with Parul Bavishi.
About the book:
At the turn of the 20th century, the women of Nagyrév, Hungary, were in trouble. Their stories were hauntingly similar: husbands who drank, who beat them, who made their lives unbearable.
The village midwife – their confidante – offered an answer: arsenic. Soon, women began slipping poison into their husbands’ brandy, porridge, and stews. Over the next twenty years, the quiet village became the epicentre of one of the deadliest series of poisonings in modern history.
In The Women Are Not Fine, journalist Hope Reese pieces together archival newspapers, court documents, police records and more to uncover the truth behind this extraordinary case. Her findings serve as a stark warning: when women are pushed to the brink, the consequences can reverberate through history.
About the author:
Hope Reese is a journalist who writes forThe New York Times and dozens of other publications, covering subjects from culture to politics to technology. She is published in the collection Where Freedom Starts: Sex Power Violence #MeToo (Verso Books). The Women Are Not Fine is her first book.
Parul Bavishi is an editor, former literary scout, and co-founder of the London Writers’ Salon.
7.30pm, Thursday 7th May 2026
Join us in-store to celebrate the paperback launch of The Women Are Not Fine by Hope Reese, in conversation with Parul Bavishi.
About the book:
At the turn of the 20th century, the women of Nagyrév, Hungary, were in trouble. Their stories were hauntingly similar: husbands who drank, who beat them, who made their lives unbearable.
The village midwife – their confidante – offered an answer: arsenic. Soon, women began slipping poison into their husbands’ brandy, porridge, and stews. Over the next twenty years, the quiet village became the epicentre of one of the deadliest series of poisonings in modern history.
In The Women Are Not Fine, journalist Hope Reese pieces together archival newspapers, court documents, police records and more to uncover the truth behind this extraordinary case. Her findings serve as a stark warning: when women are pushed to the brink, the consequences can reverberate through history.
About the author:
Hope Reese is a journalist who writes forThe New York Times and dozens of other publications, covering subjects from culture to politics to technology. She is published in the collection Where Freedom Starts: Sex Power Violence #MeToo (Verso Books). The Women Are Not Fine is her first book.
Parul Bavishi is an editor, former literary scout, and co-founder of the London Writers’ Salon.
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