Weyward
The Details
- Author: Emilia Hart
- Series: N/A
- Published: February 2nd, 2023
- Page Count: 329 (Hardcover)
Personal
- Reading Start Date: December 5th
- Reading End Date: December 8th
- Format: Audiobook
- Rating: 8/10
Quotes
Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us.
Witch. The word slithers from the mouth like a serpent, drips from the tongue as thick and black as tar. We never thought of ourselves as witches, my mother and I. For this was a word invented by men, a word that brings power to those that speak it, not those that it describes. A word that builds gallows and pyres, turns breathing women into corpses.
Perhaps one day (…) there will be a safer time, when women could walk the Earth, shining bright with power, and yet live.
Awards, Trivia, &
Winner for Historical Fiction (2023)
An Indie Next March 2023 Pick
A LibraryReads March 2023 Pick
Nominations:
Winner for Best Debut Novel (2023)
An Amazon “Best Books of the Year So Far” 2023 Pick
B&N Best Audiobooks of 2023
Genre
- Fiction
- Historical Fiction
- Fantasy
- Magical Realism
- Witches
- Adult
Trigger Warnings
- Rape
- Sexual assault
- Domestic violence
- Pregnancy loss
- Suicidal ideation
- Racial slurs
- Attempted abortion
- Stillbirth
- Miscarriage
- Emesis
- Stalking
- Animal abuse
*There may be spoilers in this review. I will try to avoid major spoilers but some need to be brought up to be discussed.
Summary
I am a Weyward, and wild inside.
2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.
1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.
1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family’s grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.
Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart’s Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.
Characters
- Kate Ayers – modern era, descendant of the Weywards
- Violet Ayers – 1942, descendant of the Weywards
- Altha Weyward – 1619, descendant of the Weywards
- Frederick Ayers – Violet’s cousin and suitor
- Jennet Weyward – 1619, Altha’s mother
- William Metcalfe – 1619, a neighbor of Altha’s
- Grace Milburn – A neighbor of Altha’s and her love interest
- John Milburn – Grace’s husband
- Elinor Weyward – Elizabeth’s mother
- Rupert Ayres – 1942, Violet’s father
- Elizabeth Ayres – 1942, descendant of the Weywards, Violet’s mother
- Graham Ayres – 1942, Violet’s brother
- Henry Ayres – 1942, Rupert’s brother
- Simon – modern era, Kate’s
Setting
England, Cumbria, England. The same location over centuries through the eyes of a family line.
Overview
I really want to say to check the trigger warnings on this one before you pick it up, it can be really heavy. These are tough topics to cover and I can see what the author was going for. Some things are pretty brutal and that can really influence the experience.
This is one of those novels that covers several members in a family line as time passes. It is beautifully written with beautiful natural imagery and a great witchy vibe. There is a great spectrum of emotion and tension that keeps the reader engaged and invested.
Pros
The poetry. The prose really reads like poetry. All three women have distinctive voices and different narrative styles but all of them are joy to read. It definitely does not feel like a debut novel. It was really a lovely read.
The visuals. It was so easy to picture this as a film, especially a mini series on HBO or something along those lines. It has the right flow, the right juxtapositions of scenes and timelines, it would just work really well and it was a quick read thanks to that.
Self-respect and journeys of self-care. There were some issues with agency and where it was coming from but overall I appreciated the depictions of women refusing to remain in abusive situations.
Cons
The anti-man thing. Which I get. I really do. I think I am getting a little over it in books. Plus I am not entirely sure if the trend is really all that healthy. I appreciated that Violet’s brother didn’t suck like the rest of them.
Agency not coming from the characters themselves but the magic. That’s a bit of a slippery slope and can be giving the wrong idea to readers.
Some things felt like an extreme or more triggering than it needed to be but that’s me mostly feeling like it makes it harder to recommend. I struggled a little with some of the representation of agency for women in this novel too. It felt like it was only really through magic and that made me feel a little itchy in the end.
Final Thoughts
It has a wonderful witchy vibe. The natural elements and the way the women relate to nature was one of my absolute favorite elements of this novel. I still feel like this would translate really well to film if it is given the right atmosphere and pacing.
It went pretty hard with the traumas so proceed carefully if you are sensitive to things like that.
