The Witching Tide

By: Margaret Meyer

Narrated by: Miranda Raison

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).

Great book

This is the perfect historical fiction book I was looking for. Great witchy vibes and unforgettable characters. Haunting, immersive, beautifully written. I loved it!

Very Repetitive

Really wanted to live this book as historical fiction is my thing. Saw it reviewed in NYTimes and eagerly used my credit on it. First the good — the main character is intriguing, mysterious and well constructed. The story was also well-researched and ripe for a spotlight. The writing was evocative and original. Now for the less good — the secondary characters are mostly stock types — the haughty mistress, the evil jailer, the pompous judge, etc. no background or insight is given into why they act as they do. And the plot was thin and so repetitive with scene after scene going “You’re a witch!”; “No Im not!”; “Yes you are”; “No Im not” ad nauseam. And the contemporary feminism (of which I am a fan) was just too on the nose, out of place.

Wonderful & Heartfelt

There was nothing I disliked. I have this book in print as well. Well told and even though historical fiction it was great and informative. I’ve ordered several of the books that were listed in the acknowledgments as well. This was such a sad time in our world history and these stores need to continue to be told.

Dark, convoluted and story doesn't make sense

I gave up 45 minutes before finishing - while there are some passages of beautiful writing, the storyline was so slow, so dark, and in the end, it lacked direction - no climax in sight. To avoid spoilers, I'll just say that a situation towards the end of the book got resolved somehow and I had no idea how it happened. The characters lacked real substance and I didn't care about or feel for any of them. The mute protagonist who was somehow understood by everyone by waving her hands seemed a pointless device. Most of all though, the story itself was slow, unclear and without any light or direction. I kept waiting to get a clearer sense of the point of it all - we all know the witch hunts were atrocities so that is nothing new. I hung in there almost to the end but decided I didn't want to spend any more of my valuable listening time on this book.