
The Witching Tide
Margaret Meyer(Author)
Scribner (Publisher)
Published on 5. September 2023
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-1-6680-1136-2 (ISBN)
Description
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).
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).
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Simon & Schuster
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 214 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
442 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-6680-1136-2 (9781668011362)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Person
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.