{"product_id":"the-witching-tide-9781399605854","title":"The Witching Tide","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Stylish and raw . . . seizes the reader''s sympathy and does not let go''\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnne Enright, Booker Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Gathering\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEast 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne Autumn morning, the peaceful atmosphere of Cleftwater is shattered by a sinister arrival 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 that could cost her own freedom. In desperation, she revives a wax 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 . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn immersive and deeply moving\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA \u003cb\u003ebeautiful, haunting and utterly transporting\u003c\/b\u003e novel that takes the reader back to a terrifyingly real witching England: a paranoid society where women's lives are decided by gossip and grudges. Told from the perspective of a silent woman whose inner voice insistently pulls the reader along, \u003ci\u003eThe Witching Tide\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003eatmospheric, moving and lyrical\u003c\/b\u003e * Naomi Wood, author of MRS HEMINGWAY *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eI absolutely devoured \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Witching Tide\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003eMargaret Meyer evokes the uncanniness, the appalling cruelties of the witch trials in a way that is also thoroughly humane and shining. To read this book is to step inside time, to feel the bite of the sea air, to walk in the grime alongside Martha as she fights the tide of unspeakable cruelty and suspicion. It is \u003cb\u003ea powerful, riveting read, each sentence pristine and haunting\u003c\/b\u003e, and I can't wait to read what Margaret Meyer writes next * Elizabeth Macneal, author of THE DOLL FACTORY *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA timely, visceral novel\u003c\/b\u003e that hurls the reader into a claustrophobic rural community riddled with suspicion, fear and recrimination.\u003cb\u003e Margaret Meyer expertly creates an atmosphere of creeping dread, where no one is safe\u003c\/b\u003e, and women find themselves punished for their own misfortunes and those of their erstwhile friends and neighbours * Natalie Haynes, author of A Thousand Ships *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA superb writer.\u003c\/b\u003e The world Margaret Meyer conjures in \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Witching Tide\u003c\/i\u003e is elegant and haunting, utterly beguiling\u003c\/b\u003e and so convincing of time and place. I was moved and gripped by Martha's plight, captivated by the gleaming details of the prose and horrified at the wider picture they revealed. As with all great historical fiction, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Witching Tide\u003c\/i\u003e gives voice to the unspoken and brings light to dark places, \u003c\/b\u003edrawing to the surface those stories that need to be told and need us to listen. I loved it * Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Witching Tide\u003c\/i\u003e is a beautiful, haunting and utterly transporting novel that takes the reader back to a terrifyingly real witching England\u003c\/b\u003e: a paranoiac society where women's lives are decided by gossip and grudges. Told from the perspective of a silent woman whose inner voice insistently pulls the reader along, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Witching Tide\u003c\/i\u003e is atmospheric, moving and lyrical\u003c\/b\u003e * Naomi Wood, author of Mrs Hemingway *\u003cbr\u003eBoth thematically and in the power of its storytelling, \u003ci\u003eThe Witching Tide\u003c\/i\u003e puts me in mind of the very best of Hilary Mantel. But this is very much its own thing - \u003cb\u003ea stunning novel\u003c\/b\u003e * Nicholas Pearson, Hilary Mantel’s long-time editor *\u003cbr\u003eOne of this year's notable debuts * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003eBewitching . . . one to watch * Evening Standard *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eUtterly haunting and entirely riveting\u003c\/b\u003e; this is an unflinching account of the horrors of witch trials, told in a\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003emesmerising voice\u003cb\u003e from an extraordinarily talented author\u003c\/b\u003e. It \u003cb\u003esent shivers down my spine and brought me to tears\u003c\/b\u003e * Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Witching Tide\u003c\/i\u003e casts a spell that carries readers back to 17th century days of actual witch hunts\u003c\/b\u003e, when fearmongers spread rumour and false accusations to wield power over women. In bewitching language, \u003cb\u003eMargaret Meyer paints a portrait of a brave midwife determined to outwit the zealots who threaten her\u003c\/b\u003e, and defeat a contagion of hysteria and violence * Kate Manning, author of Gilded Mountain *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Witching Tide\u003c\/i\u003e is one of those rare novels that pulled me in and wouldn't let go. With \u003cb\u003ediamond-cut prose\u003c\/b\u003e, Meyer makes 17th century witch hunts feel \u003cb\u003evivid, new, and highly relevant to the current moment\u003c\/b\u003e. The chaos, the twisted logic made me wonder if it was possible these historical events actually happened; the essential truths of human nature as seen in these characters made me worry they could happen again * Mary Beth Keane, author of The Half Moon *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBleak, beautiful and enraging,\u003c\/b\u003e it's\u003cb\u003e a haunting story \u003c\/b\u003eof persecution and the abuse of power * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAdmirably effective \u003c\/b\u003ein thrusting readers into the midst of a community split by the accusation that it harbours witches * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMesmerising \u003c\/b\u003eand\u003cb\u003e beautiful \u003c\/b\u003e -- Daily Mirror\u003cbr\u003eA\u003cb\u003e visceral, atmospheric \u003c\/b\u003eaddition to the witch genre * Good Housekeeping *\u003cbr\u003eAn \u003cb\u003eemotional and intensely immersive\u003c\/b\u003e reading experience . . . \u003cb\u003ehaunting, harrowing \u003c\/b\u003eand\u003cb\u003e unflinching\u003c\/b\u003e * Lancashire Post *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Orion Publishing Co","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48066865463639,"sku":"9781399605854","price":15.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781399605854.jpg?v=1713212022","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-witching-tide-9781399605854","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}