The Writing on the Hearth is a children's historical novel by Cynthia Harnett and illustrated by Gareth Floyd.

The events of the novel take place in the 15th century and primarily in the village of Ewelme in Oxfordshire, England.

The thinnest of plots is merely a line on which to hang a wealth of historical detail about the politics and the day-to-day circumstances of the years around 1440.

The author's clear purpose, stated several times in the book, is that people — and in particular Stephen — learn to sift Good from Evil.

Although sensible points of view are held by those people in the story to whom we look for wisdom, it is the tiniest bit unclear at the end what we are supposed to believe about Meg, the old woman in the woods who seems to see the future in a pool of water.