The Witching Tide A Novel
The Witching Tide A Novel by Margaret Meyer, published by Simon and Schuster in October 2024, is a historical fiction work that delves into the grim realities of a witch hunt in 17th-century England. Set in East Anglia during 1645, the narrative follows Martha Hallybread, a midwife and healer who has lived quietly in her seaside village of Cleftwater. Her life is disrupted by the arrival of a witchfinder named Silas Makepeace, whose presence incites fear and chaos as local women are accused and detained.
Readers will find a gripping exploration of suspicion and betrayal as Martha grapples with her silence and the moral dilemmas surrounding the witch hunt. The story captures the tension of a community on the brink, as Martha is drawn into the dark events unfolding around her. With themes of women’s roles and societal pressures, this edition of The Witching Tide, comprising 352 pages, invites readers to reflect on a pivotal moment in history and its implications.
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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).
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