Growing sense of horror

• Published date: 10 March 2022
• Publication title: Taupo Weekender

By Virginia Feito, HarperCollins, $29.99

This is quite a disturbing read, and partly because it’s difficult to determine what era it’s set in, given its character’s prissy nature.

Mrs March is married to a novelist and lives a fine old life in a very nice New York apartment.

Her view of herself is as “Mrs March”, even when she’s thinking back to her early life, and she is a woman governed by her restrictions.

She wears gloves, is particular about her pantyhose, shops in the same carefully curated shops for the same items every time. She’s preparing for a party to celebrate her husband’s latest literary success.

But then the woman who serves her in her favourite bakery asks if it’s the first time he’s based the protagonist on her and her paranoia begins. The protagonist is a...