A SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF 2023
'A superb writer' EMMA STONEX
'Stylish and raw' ANNE ENRIGHT
'Mesmerising and beautiful' DAILY EXPRESS
'Gripping and visceral 'IRISH EXAMINER
'A powerful, riveting read ' ELIZABETH MACNEAL
'Astonishingly absorbing'i PAPER
'That's a good thing about you, Martha. You keep secrets . . .'
East Anglia, 1645. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer and servant , is a trusted figure in her beloved coastal village of Cleftwater - even though no one has ever heard her speak.
One day, the peaceful atmosphere is disrupted by the arrival of a witch-hunter, and suspicion threatens to tear the community apart. When Martha is drawn into the search, she finds herself torn between protecting herself or her friends. As the tide of suspicion builds and events hurtle towards a terrible reckoning, Martha's silence is a choice that could cost her everything.
Genre: Historical
'A superb writer' EMMA STONEX
'Stylish and raw' ANNE ENRIGHT
'Mesmerising and beautiful' DAILY EXPRESS
'Gripping and visceral 'IRISH EXAMINER
'A powerful, riveting read ' ELIZABETH MACNEAL
'Astonishingly absorbing'i PAPER
'That's a good thing about you, Martha. You keep secrets . . .'
East Anglia, 1645. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer and servant , is a trusted figure in her beloved coastal village of Cleftwater - even though no one has ever heard her speak.
One day, the peaceful atmosphere is disrupted by the arrival of a witch-hunter, and suspicion threatens to tear the community apart. When Martha is drawn into the search, she finds herself torn between protecting herself or her friends. As the tide of suspicion builds and events hurtle towards a terrible reckoning, Martha's silence is a choice that could cost her everything.
Genre: Historical
Praise for this book
"A timely, visceral novel that hurls the reader into a claustrophobic rural community riddled with suspicion, fear and recrimination. Margaret Meyer expertly creates an atmosphere of creeping dread, where no one is safe, and women find themselves punished for their own misfortunes and those of their erstwhile friends and neighbours." - Natalie Haynes
"I absolutely devoured The Witching Tide. Margaret Meyer evokes the uncanniness, the appalling cruelties of the witch trials in a way that is also thoroughly humane and shining. To read this book is to step inside time, to feel the bite of the sea air, to walk in the grime alongside Martha as she fights the tide of unspeakable cruelty and suspicion. It is a powerful, riveting read, each sentence pristine and haunting, and I can't wait to read what Margaret Meyer writes next." - Elizabeth Macneal
"The Witching Tide casts a spell that carries readers back to 17th century days of actual witch hunts, when fearmongers spread rumour and false accusations to wield power over women. In bewitching language, Margaret Meyer paints a portrait of a brave midwife determined to outwit the zealots who threaten her, and defeat a contagion of hysteria and violence." - Kate Manning
"Utterly haunting and entirely riveting; this is an unflinching account of the horrors of witch trials, told in amesmerising voice from an extraordinarily talented author. It sent shivers down my spine and brought me to tears." - Jennifer Saint
"A superb writer. The world Margaret Meyer conjures in The Witching Tide is elegant and haunting, utterly beguiling and so convincing of time and place. I was moved and gripped by Martha's plight, captivated by the gleaming details of the prose and horrified at the wider picture they revealed. As with all great historical fiction, The Witching Tide gives voice to the unspoken and brings light to dark places, drawing to the surface those stories that need to be told and need us to listen. I loved it." - Emma Stonex
"A beautiful, haunting and utterly transporting novel that takes the reader back to a terrifyingly real witching England: a paranoid society where women's lives are decided by gossip and grudges. Told from the perspective of a silent woman whose inner voice insistently pulls the reader along, The Witching Tide is atmospheric, moving and lyrical." - Naomi Wood
"I absolutely devoured The Witching Tide. Margaret Meyer evokes the uncanniness, the appalling cruelties of the witch trials in a way that is also thoroughly humane and shining. To read this book is to step inside time, to feel the bite of the sea air, to walk in the grime alongside Martha as she fights the tide of unspeakable cruelty and suspicion. It is a powerful, riveting read, each sentence pristine and haunting, and I can't wait to read what Margaret Meyer writes next." - Elizabeth Macneal
"The Witching Tide casts a spell that carries readers back to 17th century days of actual witch hunts, when fearmongers spread rumour and false accusations to wield power over women. In bewitching language, Margaret Meyer paints a portrait of a brave midwife determined to outwit the zealots who threaten her, and defeat a contagion of hysteria and violence." - Kate Manning
"Utterly haunting and entirely riveting; this is an unflinching account of the horrors of witch trials, told in amesmerising voice from an extraordinarily talented author. It sent shivers down my spine and brought me to tears." - Jennifer Saint
"A superb writer. The world Margaret Meyer conjures in The Witching Tide is elegant and haunting, utterly beguiling and so convincing of time and place. I was moved and gripped by Martha's plight, captivated by the gleaming details of the prose and horrified at the wider picture they revealed. As with all great historical fiction, The Witching Tide gives voice to the unspoken and brings light to dark places, drawing to the surface those stories that need to be told and need us to listen. I loved it." - Emma Stonex
"A beautiful, haunting and utterly transporting novel that takes the reader back to a terrifyingly real witching England: a paranoid society where women's lives are decided by gossip and grudges. Told from the perspective of a silent woman whose inner voice insistently pulls the reader along, The Witching Tide is atmospheric, moving and lyrical." - Naomi Wood
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