The Witching Tide

Named a best historical novel of the year by The New York Times Book Review and "reminiscent of both The Scarlet Letter and Hamnet" (Jezebel), The Witching Tide is a powerful debut inspired by the true events behind a deadly witch hunt in 17th-century England.

East Anglia, 1645. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer, and servant, has lived peacefully for more than four decades in her beloved seaside village of Cleftwater. Having lost her voice as a child, Martha has not spoken a word in years.

One autumn morning, a sinister newcomer appears in town. A "witchfinder," Silas Makepeace has been blazing a trail of destruction along the coast, and his arrival in Cleftwater strikes fear into the heart of the community. Within a day, local women are being detained. Martha is enlisted to search the accused women for "devil's marks," and finds herself a silent witness to the hunt.

Martha is caught between suspicion and betrayal; between shielding herself or condemning the women of the village. In desperation, she revives a wax witching doll that belonged to her mother, in the hope that it will bring protection. But the doll's true powers are unknowable, Martha harbors a terrible secret, and the gallows are looming...

Set over the course of a few weeks that forever changed history, and for readers of Hilary Mantel and Margaret Atwood, The Witching Tide "illuminates a dark historical period and cautions against its recreation" (Kirkus Reviews).

Author: Margaret Meyer
Publisher: Scribner Book Company
Published: 09/05/2023
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.43h x 5.51w x 1.18d
ISBN: 9781668011362

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 04/01/2023 pg. 6
Publishers Weekly 07/03/2023
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2023
Booklist 09/01/2023 pg. 52
Shelf Awareness 09/08/2023

About the Author
Margaret Meyer was born in Canada, grew up in New Zealand and now lives in Norwich, England. She worked in publishing before becoming a therapist, and has a degree in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. The Witching Tide, her first novel, was inspired by the events of the 1645-7 East Anglian witch hunt and is dedicated to the more than 100 innocent women who lost their lives.