The Witching Tide

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. (Sept.)