The Witching Tide

East Anglia, 1645. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer and servant, has lived for more than four decades in her beloved coastal village of Cleftwater. Everyone knows Martha, but no one has ever heard her speak.

One morning, the peaceful atmosphere is violently shattered and Martha becomes a silent witness to a witch hunt. As a trusted member of the community, she is enlisted to search the bodies of the accused women. But whilst Martha wants to help her friends, she also harbours a dark secret.

In desperation, she revives a witching doll that she inherited from her mother, in the hope that it will bring protection. But the doll's true powers are unknowable, the tide is turning, and time is running out . . .

A spellbinding and intoxicating novel inspired by true events, The Witching Tide breathes new life into history whilst holding up a mirror to the world we live in now. A story of loyalty and betrayal, fear and obsession, the impact of misogyny and the power of resistance, it is a magnificent debut from a striking new voice.

Margaret Meyer was born in Canada, grew up in New Zealand and now lives in Norwich, England. She worked in publishing in New Zealand and then in and literature promotion before retraining in a second career as a mental health therapist. In 2020 she completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. The Witching Tide is her first novel.

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