The Witching Tide: The powerful and gripping debut novel for readers of Margaret Atwood and Hilary Mantel

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MM: It was a surprise to me. And it was an enigma to me for a really, really long time. And it still is, really. Our newsletter will gently land in your inbox at random intervals, bearing tidings of comfort and joy about new Stylish and raw … seizes the reader ’ s sympathy and does not let go .” — Anne Enright, Booker Prize – winning author of The Gathering I read this book twice, as the first time through, I didn't keep up well with all the narrative turns. It's definitely a twisty, suspenseful tale, and the second time through, I was hooked. This time, I was more prepared for the wild plot, so I had no trouble following the many threads. ...Here are my trigger warnings for extreme violence against women and children, religious persecution, extreme gender and disability persecution, scenes of torture, death of a fetus, infanticide, SA, and more; I don't think the author or publisher provided trigger warnings, but these barely scrape the surface. Martha’s language is a sort of a ripple effect. The further away people get from her, the less they understand. And again, that was quite a technical impediment in writing the book until the point where I realised it was emblematic, and I could use it as an instrument for exploring the way women have been silenced and talked over and deliberately misunderstood.

THE WITCHING TIDE | Kirkus Reviews

Powerless to protest, Martha is enlisted to search the accused women for “devil’s marks.” Now she is caught between suspicion and betrayal, having to choose between protecting 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 that could cost her own freedom, and the gallows are looming... I always find books based on the witch hunts of the 1600s so fascinating and heartbreaking and this book was no exception. This is one of the most unflinching novels I’ve read, it doesn’t shy away from the brutal realities of what happened to women up and down the country. Meyer even writes about a male characterWe got no witches in Cleftwater. Leastways, we had none, until the witch man came.” A woman accused of witchcraft sums up the situation in Meyer’s fraught tale of misogyny, prejudice, and mob rule in 1640s England. Based off the witch hunt trials that happened around 1645-7, this is a lovely literary piece of historical fiction that captures the agony and unfairness of being a woman during this time. The utterly unbearable constant state of danger. I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you. Terror and mass hysteria ensue. Soon Martha witnesses other women in her community rounded up and detained by Makepiece. She takes bread to the accused women in gaol. The problem with being trapped in her silence was that we were also trapped within her repetitive thoughts and worries. I think the story would have benefited from a second POV character.

The Witching Tide by Margaret Meyer | Waterstones The Witching Tide by Margaret Meyer | Waterstones

East Anglia, 1645. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer and servant, has lived peacefully for more than four decades in her beloved village of Cleftwater. She has not spoken a word in years.The accused women deny their charges, but no one believes them. The witch trials are a sham. The scales of justice are already tipped, the women indicted on manufactured evidence and false charges by Makepeace, the searchers and vindictive neighbours looking for plausible explanations for illness, death and misfortune. As she had feared, Martha, too, is eventually arrested. The doll seemed to cling to her skin. Mam had taught how a left eye was the witching eye, able to see things not readily visible but present nonetheless. She turned the doll to one side and studied it aslant. Light haloed it, put a sheen on the dingy yellow wax, kindling the recollection of its purpose. It would need rousing if she were to use it—make use of its powers. Reminiscent of both The Scarlet Letter and Hamnet... extremely well-executed historical fiction.” — Jezebel