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A Novel
by Emilia Hart
Book Reviewed by: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.
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.
One of the most successful aspects of the book is its depiction of the Weyward women's mystical connection to the natural world. Their magical ability to communicate with animals and harness the power of nature comes across with poignant and delicate sensitivity, skillfully avoiding any potential magic-women-at-harmony-with-nature clichés. Weyward is an intelligent, hard-hitting, mesmerizing novel marking the auspicious debut of a talented writer and storyteller...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by Jo-Anne Blanco).
"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 who speak it, not those it describes. A word that builds gallows and, turns breathing women into corpses."
Emilia Hart, Weyward
At the opening of Emilia Hart's Weyward, there is a quote from Shakespeare's Macbeth regarding the three witches: "The Weyward Sisters, hand in hand/Posters of the sea and land/Thus do go, about, about/Thrice to thine/Thrice to mine/And thrice again to make up nine./ Peace, the charm's wound up." Following this quote, there is a note, stating: "'Weyward' is used in the First ...
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Abi Daré, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl With the Louding Voice
An utterly absorbing page turner. Emilia Hart has written a brilliant story of the strength, resilience and power of three women spanning decades, against a stunning backdrop of the frailty and beauty of nature. This is an outstanding debut and worthy of all the stars.
