Emilia Hart's debut novel links women in three timelines through blood and a powerful connection to the natural world as they resist male dominance and cruelty in various witchy ways.
In Weyward, Emilia Hart's story of witchcraft and the natural world, she explores three timelines of women connected through the ages by power and by society's historical suspicion of strong women.
In 1619, Altha is awaiting her trial for the murder of a local farmer, and she'll need to use all of her powers to evade execution.
In 1942, as World War II disrupts the world, Violet is stuck in her family's ramshackle estate when she discovers an intriguing link to the past.
In 2019, Kate flees an abusive relationship in London for the safety of the crumbling cottage she's inherited from her aunt--and learns of her ancestors' persecution in the witch hunts of the 17th century.
The majority of the male characters in Weyward are unredeemable buffoons, at best ignorant and rigid and at worst neglectful and cruel--and always holding the power, at least before the Weyward women recognize and develop their own. The story features instances of rape, abandonment, witch hunting, and attempted suicide.
Yet Altha, Violet, and Kate persist, struggle against the binds society attempts to put upon them, connect powerfully with the natural world, and are linked by blood ties and echoes of hardship and overcoming.
I received an audiobook version of this book courtesy of Libro.fm (Libro.fm supports local bookstores!) and Macmillan Audio. The story is wonderfully narrated by Aysha Kala, Helen Keeley, and Nell Barlow.
Weyward is Emilia Hart's debut novel.
Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book?
I love a witchy book! The female characters are often strong, and there's often lush historical fiction detail.
If you like these stories too, you might enjoy the books on my Greedy Reading Lists Six Wonderfully Witchy Stories and Six More Wonderfully Witchy Stories to Charm You.