It takes place in East Anglia in 1645 where Martha Hallybread and other women in the Cleftwater community are accused by Silas Makepeace, a new comer and witchfinder. Martha has lost her voice as a girl but she does everything in her power to stand against this act of injustice and save herself and the other women, from the gallows. In an act of desperation she awakens a powerful wax doll that belonged to her mother, for protection, without knowing that the protection of some can mean the condemnation of others. At one point, the women are forced to put aside mutual suspicion, to join forces to survive.

The characters, especially Martha, are very relatable, and the writing is so clever that you feel suspicious and disturbed,. It's a very propulsive and impactful story, very appropriate for the upcoming witchy season!

"This women's life of ours. Why must we suffer so? Cursed for being women,"

I've read several books on the plight of women condemned as being witches, but this one really angried up my blood. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't with idiots who believed that any mark on a woman's body could be used to "suckle an imp."

The way they treated these women - even a pregnant woman in labor - makes me hope that there is a Hell and that every inhumane monster who ever accused anyone of witchcraft is there, eternally burning.

A good immersive read, though be warned - this one put me through the wringer, and I was pissed off the whole time I was reading it.

Set in the 17th century during the Witch Trials, Martha the village midwife and healer.

In this 17th century seaside fishing village, Martha is the village midwife and healer. She has delivered many babies and helped countless others with their ailments. But danger is on the horizon in the form of a witch hunter, Silas Makepeace. Martha is mute and soon finds herself a silent witness to this witch hunt. Her master offers her to Mr Makepeace to assist in the search for "devils mark" on the women that have been accused of witchcraft. But Martha has a secret herself. Her mother left some trinkets to her when she left her as a child. With the witch hunt so close to home, Martha has begun to carry a wax doll of her mother's to keep her safe. Martha soon finds herself in the jail herself, being held as a potential witch. Will her mother's doll prove to be helpful, or will Martha hang at the gallows like her friends and neighbors?

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't a page-turner. I haven't read much about the Witch Trials but did enjoy that this was a historical fiction based in that time period. The setting of the book gives The Scarlet Letter vibes for sure. I found the book a little difficult to get into at first because the prose is very much what it would have been in that time period, which worked, just took a little to get used to. I also liked that there was good resolution in the end, even when there were times I wasn't sure if I was going to like the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good but uncomfortable read. Great writing but the topic itself was just so harrowing. Martha’s story is so sad and the detail with which it’s delivered makes the book hit harder. I felt so bad for these poor women. Even the ending was depressing.

Thank you to Scribner Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 💕

What a haunting look at the witch trials that took place in the 17th century. This was definitely not a happy or lighthearted read. Hundreds of innocent women lost their lives in the UK and US as a result of the witch hunts. I’ve always been interested in learning about this time period since I read The Crucible in high school.

This author wove an atmospheric, eerie, and haunting tale with her prose that shed light on how easily fear and suspicion can take hold in a community and quickly turn neighbor against neighbor.

This book releases on Tuesday. Definitely consider reading it this fall and adding it to your spooky season TBR!

Set in East Anglia, 1645, the witchfinder, Silas Makepeace has been blazing a trail of destruction along the coast, and now has Cleftwater in his sights. Within a day, local women are being captured and detained, accused of practicing witchcraft. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer, and servant, lost her voice as a child and only communicates through hand gestures. Powerless to protest, Martha is enlisted to search the accused women for “devil’s marks.” She 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…

This started out as a bit of a slow burn for me. I was interested in the premise, and the fact that it was inspired by historical events. The timeline of the book only spans a couple of weeks, but it seems to drag at times, and for the first little bit, I was unsure if I was even going to like it. Once the story picked up the pace a little, I began to enjoy it a little more, but there were still times when the story seemed to drag. The author did a good job detailing the terror those women felt, as they were rounded up, and tested, jailed, and in some cases hung.
This was a sordid time in history that deserves to be remembered, although it was hard to read about it.
Overall, I give this a solid 3.

I found this book difficult to read. The main character appears to be mute but her dialog is written as if everyone understands her sign language or mouthing or something.

Not my usual genre, but this book was so good. It’s set in the 1600s during the famous Salem witch trials. Very much worth the read.

A dark, brooding, and thoughtful look at the impact of the hysteria of witch finders. Martha, in 1654, finds herself caught in the middle when her village turns into fury against its women. She's mute, has been mute since forever, but she is able to communicate with others, notably Kit, her employer for whom she was once a nanny. She's also a midwife and the novel starts with the harrowing birth of a child with problems, a child who dies. Prissy, the cook who assisted, is dragged away by the mob, as are others. Martha is chosen to be one of those who examine the alleged witches. Know that this is just so sad in so many ways. It's also impossible to read it without thinking about it as a cautionary tale for the present day. Martha is a terrific character as are many of the others, even those you will come to despise. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A very good, if disturbing, read.

I am always shocked when I read any book about witch hunts. I feel like it was men who stated they were on a mission from God to come in and get rid of any woman that is a bit different, said no to a man, mouthed off, works with herbs, and the list goes on. The evidence is like a muddy mess, gray, stinks, and makes no sense. The description and details that went into this book makes the hair on your body rise, your mind race, and your eyes water. There is no excuse for friends, neighbors, or loved ones to go against these women. They are in fact petrified for themselves, paid off, or just evil people to begin with.

Martha comes from a troubling past. She is mute and speaks through signs. She is a midwife and a healer. Her master is a man who is about to have a babe born, with a wife who tends to be short, mean, and wicked with her words. When Master Makepeace comes blowing into town one day, on a search for witches. The entire town of Cleftwater is left in turmoil. As more and more women are arrested under the suspicion of witchcraft. Martha is made to check for devil marks on these women. Will she become marked as well?

I had such high hopes for this book. I love reading anything about the witch trials. I felt no connection to the characters. I needed more background and clarity. The descriptions of the jail and the gallows were spot on. You could smell the despair, the unwashed bodies, and feel the tension in the air. I also needed more closure on certain disappearances and outcomes. Thank you to Margaret Meyer and Scribner for my gifted copy.

The Witching Tide by Margaret Meyer

My thanks to NetGalley and to Scribner for the eARC of, The Witching Tide, to read.
I enjoy reading debut authors and I’m looking forward to more books from Margaret Meyer.


A haunting debut read inspired by the events of the East Anglian witch hunt of 1645-7. Margaret Meyer, dedicates her book to the more than 100 innocent women who lost their lives.

Martha, a mute midwife, finds herself caught up in the rounding up of women from her town that are supposedly witches. If a woman didn’t want the advances made to her by a man, he could spread around lies and say she is a witch. If a baby died of complications from birth, they could say the midwife is a witch.

The witch hunter would come to purge cities of sickness and contagions that the devil’s brides bring forth. Women were assigned by the witch man to examine other women accused of being a witch. Any blemishes found were judged to be evil and any type mole was believed to be what the devils imps would feed from.

The story touches upon loyalty and also the betrayal of people that you thought you could trust and rely upon. It was a dangerous time for women during these insanely inhumane witch hunts.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was okay, but it didn't really hit for me, I had too push myself to get through the story.

Here’s the thing; This story has been told plenty of times already.

Granted, the author did a fine job painting a 17th century atmosphere while building tension through a ludicrous (but authentically felt) witch hunt and the growing rage and fear within mob mentality. It’s just that she is not the first to accomplish this.

Margaret Meyer tried to put an original spin on The Witching Tide with her mute main character, but that did so little to alter or improve the tale. The execution of this device, which seemed more like a gimmick, was not well done. While we are told that Martha, who uses hand gestures to communicate, is often misunderstood, we are also told every single thing Martha aims to convey, as if she is actually saying it. There is no room for the imagination here. Martha may as well have had a voice since the telling was significantly stronger than the showing in this novel.

Overall, I was not fond of the writing style. There are several choppy sentences, as well as a lot of repetitiveness. While I do find these things to be effective in poetry, I rarely find they hold the same weight in fictional prose. I do feel the writing quality had some commendable points, but it failed to reach the heights of its literary ambition.

Of course, we do know this history bears repeating, lest we forget what was shamefully done to innocent women. There are benefits to exploring the unfair accusations and the horrific results of an unjust witch hunt. But if it’s going to be redone, it needs to actually be interesting and take on something new beyond a mute character who never truly feels mute.

Despite what the synopsis claims, there are no hints of Margaret Atwood here. Yes, the story is devastating, but how could it not be? This does not mean it does anything beyond the superficial. For a historical lesson, this could be a win, but as a novel, it will not be memorable for me.

I am immensely grateful to Scribner Books and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

Interesting, engaging read inspired by the events of the 1645-7 East Anglian witch hunt . Gives some insight into how quickly neighbor can turn against neighbor when fueled by fear and conspiracy theories.

An enthralling pageturner. I loved seeing this story from Martha’s perspective, and was in awe of the events.
Many thanks to Scribner and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

What a heartbreaking time in history - The Witching Tide follows a sometimes mute Martha as she navigates the "sickness" that plagues humanity during the witch trials. She seems to be constantly fighting for the right thing to do while simultaneously trying not to get swept up in the madness herself. I don't particularly think that this was a book for me as I didn't particularly connect with any of the characters, nor was the storyline easy for me to follow; I'm not sure what the actual plot was other than relaying history. It's clear that Margaret Meyer has done her research as there were quite a few words throughout this book that, when I looked them up, were common verbiage in the 19th century. If you like books where you're uncertain if they'll have an "acceptable" resolution and follow a time in history in which it's clear there was heightened fear and a lack of humanity/common sense, then this is truly the book for you. I sincerely appreciate NetGalley, Scribner, and Margaret Meyer for allowing me the opportunity to read the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

When I tell you that I read this book so fast, it was unbelievable, I am not lying. This book was SO GOOD. It was clearly extremely well-researched, so engrossing, and one of the most upsetting but also touching and moving books about this subject matter I have read in a long time. The story follows a woman in seventeenth century England who is present during a witch hunt. The woman, Martha, is a healer and a midwife in her town, and is present at the beginning of the witch hunt, hoping to not get caught up in it. The story was so interesting, the characters were so believable and it was so easy to see how so many can quickly get caught up in something based in lies and fear. I highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates good historical fiction.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"The Witching Tide" is beautifully written and involves all the senses in its detailed depiction of life in a 17th-century English village. But the story itself was meh, and the protagonist left me cold. I didn't really care if she was convicted of witchcraft, and in a novel where that's the central conflict, it's a pretty major shortcoming. You might feel differently, of course. I think this is one of those exceptionally polarizing, Marmite-like books: Some will love it, some will loathe it.

Thank you, NetGalley and Scribner, for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Witching Tide is set in England in 1645 in the village of Cleftwater during the witch hunts and trials of that period in history. The story follows Martha Hallybread, the midwife and healer of the village when Master Makepeace, the witchfinder, arrives. I was looking forward to reading The Witching Tide, but unfortunately, the book failed to hold my attention. Thanks to the author Margaret Meyer, Scribner, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Honestly I really didn't like this very much. I felt angry and hopeless reading it. The men and some of the towns women were so cruel and stupid. A woman's life totally depended on men. I will give points because it did evoke an emotion, albeit a negative one. I didn't care for Martha but I didn't really feel I knew enough about her. I was kind of tired of hearing about this worm in her throat or suckling imps.

Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for providing me with a digital copy.