Summary

In Chapter 1, the narrator introduces 34-year-old Harriet Lee, a woman living in West London and obsessed with making gingerbread. She uses the baked good to appease people. The recipe is from her great-great-great-grandmother. Originally her family relied on the gingerbread when they had nothing else to eat. When she first had her daughter, Perdita, Harriet fed her only gingerbread. The girl grew violently ill and her hair turned grey. Harriet's mother, Margot, tells her daughter never to feed Perdita gluten again.

In the narrative present, Perdita is 17 and has few friends at school. She is perpetually annoyed with her mother's attempts to participate in community and school events. Harriet even tries to be on the Parental Power Association (PPA), giving the board boxes of gingerbread to win their favor. However, none of the members appreciates Harriet and consider her an outsider.

One night...