May 2026 Book of the Month | Caly recommends...The Women Are Not Fine - Hope Reese

Book for our event with Hope Reese here.

Caly says... A meticulously researched true-crime exploration of the largest, female-led mass poisoning in modern history. This book was incredible - a really fascinating insight into the history of rural Hungarian communities and cycles of violence and abuse in which the "normal", and perhaps expected, roles of perpetrator and victim are switched. A tender recounting of sisterhood and women in despair finding a way to survive despite all odds.

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Abusive husbands. Desperate women. Poisonous solutions.

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.