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Title details for The Witching Tide by Margaret Meyer - Available

The Witching Tide

by Margaret Meyer
Miranda Raison
Audiobook
2 of 3 copies available
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2 of 3 copies available
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).

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 5, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797161167
      • File size: 276682 KB
      • Duration: 09:36:25

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 3, 2023
      A mute midwife becomes a target of the 17th-century East Anglian witch hunt in Meyer’s immersive if murky debut. Martha Hallybread, 47, lives with Kit, whom she nursed as a child, and his family, and uses her knowledge of herbs to treat illnesses and deliver babies. The day after she and a servant named Prissy deliver a neighbor’s baby with fatal birth defects, Prissy is accused of witchcraft and arrested. Kit, hoping to shield Martha from execution, convinces the court to employ her as one of the women scouring the bodies of the accused for witch marks. Martha tries to leverage her new role to protect the accused, but matters take a turn for the worse when Kit’s pregnant wife, Agnes, is also accused of witchcraft because of her association with Martha. Things get a little hazy in the third act, as Martha uses the poppet she inherited from her mother to put a hex on the witchfinder who’d accused her and Agnes, though Meyer remains coy as to whether or not the magic is real. Still, the author offers a stirring depiction of the selfishness, revenge, and fear behind the accusations. This evocative narrative is sure to pique readers’ curiosity about the witch trials. Agent: Kimberly Witherspoon, InkWell Management.

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from November 1, 2023

      Meyer's atmospheric debut takes listeners to the 1640s East Anglian village of Cleftwater, forever changed when witchfinder Silas Makepeace comes to town. Martha Hallybread, a 47-year-old servant, midwife, and healer, has long used her knowledge of botanicals to heal the villagers' illnesses and help with pregnancies and childbirth. Having lost her voice as a child and now relying on gestures and signs to communicate, Martha has always been different. Even so, she is conscripted to the witchfinder's cause, tasked with searching the accused women for "devil's marks" as she and those she loves come under increasing scrutiny. Actor Miranda Raison narrates Meyer's gripping story, capturing the oppressive atmosphere of a town weighed down by dread, suspicion, and hurt. Raison expertly gives voice to Martha, conveying her words with a befitting raspiness that sets her apart while allowing listeners glimpses of her sorrow and growing desperation. Raison's performances of secondary characters are equally evocative, channeling the fragile haughtiness of Martha's mistress, Agnes; the broad expansiveness of her friend Jennet Savory; and the poisonous, self-satisfied taunts of the women's jailers. VERDICT A heartbreaking, unputdownable audio that speaks to the power of mob rule and the incalculable harm wrought by misogyny, dogmatism, and prejudice.--Sarah Hashimoto

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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