The Witching Tide - Margaret Meyer

In some sort of personal record I seem to have finished two books whilst on holiday and only bought one. I bought The Witching Tide because it was described ad Margaret Atwood meets somebody (maybe Angela Carter?) that sounded particularly compelling along with all the other plaudits it was recieving.

Now that I've read it I'm not really sure what to say about it. the Margaret Atwood comparison is fair, Margaret Meyer is a fine writer who approaches her subject with compassion, sensitivity, and just the right amount of anger. She creates a convincing version of east Anglia during the civil war and witch hunts of the 17th century, the plot and pacing are both compelling, and yet there's a but.

There are a lot of novels, and almost as much non fiction examining the witch hunting craze of the 17th century, some will be better written than others - and here's the but - do we need as many of them as we have? How much outrage can an individual reader muster and how many times do I want to read about how bloody awful men can be to women? 

Not many times in my case, so whilst I appreciated this book and found it almost as absorbing as the cover quotes promised, I'm also left a little cold by it. Everyone suffers too much, and sometimes it's not entirely clear why. Having the main character as a mute midwife is effective - of course, she's going to get caught up in a witch hunt, and as it happens she does have things to feel guilty about. That Martha cannot speak adds to the sense of horror - she cannot speak up to defend her friends or herself, not that it would matter much if she did. 

There is a suggestion of actual witchcraft that also works well - mostly we see things from Martha's point of view and some of what she feels is suggestive of powers beyond strictly human - which also reflects the genuine belief in, and fear of, witchcraft that people felt. So overall there's much to like, and I did like it, but at the same time it's just not a book I feel passionate about, and will probably the novel on witch hunts I read for a very long time.