The Witching Tide

A SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF 2023 'A superb writer' EMMA STONEX 'Stylish and raw' ANNE ENRIGHT 'Mesmerising and beautiful' DAILY EXPRESS 'Gripping and visceral ' IRISH EXAMINER 'A powerful, riveting read ' ELIZABETH MACNEAL 'Astonishingly absorbing' i PAPER 'That's a good thing about you, Martha. You keep secrets . . .' East Anglia, 1645. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer and servant , is a trusted figure in her beloved coastal village of Cleftwater - even though no one has ever heard her speak. One day, the peaceful atmosphere is disrupted by the arrival of a witch-hunter, and suspicion threatens to tear the community apart. When Martha is drawn into the search, she finds herself torn between protecting herself or her friends. As the tide of suspicion builds and events hurtle towards a terrible reckoning, Martha's silence is a choice that could cost her everything.

A SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF 2023 'A superb writer' EMMA STONEX 'Stylish and raw' ANNE ENRIGHT 'Mesmerising and beautiful' DAILY EXPRESS 'Gripping and visceral ' IRISH EXAMINER 'A powerful, riveting read ' ELIZABETH MACNEAL 'Astonishingly absorbing' i PAPER 'That's a good thing about you, Martha. You keep secrets . . .' East Anglia, 1645. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer and servant , is a trusted figure in her beloved coastal village of Cleftwater - even though no one has ever heard her speak. One day, the peaceful atmosphere is disrupted by the arrival of a witch-hunter, and suspicion threatens to tear the community apart. When Martha is drawn into the search, she finds herself torn between protecting herself or her friends. As the tide of suspicion builds and events hurtle towards a terrible reckoning, Martha's silence is a choice that could cost her everything.

" Stylish and raw ... seizes the reader ' s sympathy and does not let go ." -- Anne Enright, Booker Prize - winning author of The Gathering For readers of Margaret Atwood and Hilary Mantel, an immersive literary debut inspired by historical events--a deadly witch hunt in 17th-century England--that claimed many innocent lives. 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. The witchfinder, Silas Makepeace, has been blazing a trail of destruction along the coast, and now has Cleftwater in his sights. His arrival strikes fear into the heart of the community. Within a day, local women are being captured and detained, and Martha finds herself a silent witness to the hunt. 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... Set over the course of just a few weeks that will forever change history, The Witching Tide delivers powerful and psychologically astute insights about the exigencies of friendship and the nature of loyalty, and heralds the arrival of a striking new voice in fiction.

" Stylish and raw ... seizes the reader ' s sympathy and does not let go ." -- Anne Enright, Booker Prize - winning author of The Gathering For readers of Margaret Atwood and Hilary Mantel, an immersive literary debut inspired by historical events--a deadly witch hunt in 17th-century England--that claimed many innocent lives. 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. The witchfinder, Silas Makepeace, has been blazing a trail of destruction along the coast, and now has Cleftwater in his sights. His arrival strikes fear into the heart of the community. Within a day, local women are being captured and detained, and Martha finds herself a silent witness to the hunt. 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... Set over the course of just a few weeks that will forever change history, The Witching Tide delivers powerful and psychologically astute insights about the exigencies of friendship and the nature of loyalty, and heralds the arrival of a striking new voice in fiction.