Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
"Superb ... a perfect horror for our imperfect age.” – The New York Times
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER
They were never girls, they were witches . . . .
They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.
Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, frightened, and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.
Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by the adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid . . . and it’s usually paid in blood.
In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER
They were never girls, they were witches . . . .
They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.
Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, frightened, and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.
Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by the adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid . . . and it’s usually paid in blood.
In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).
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Readers say *Witchcraft for Wayward Girls* vividly portrays the harsh realities faced by unwed pregnant teens in 1970s America, evoking sympathy throu...
My heart broke in different shapes and sizes while reading this novel.
Witcraft For Wayward Girls takes place in the early 70s, just a few months before Roe v. Wade.
It's easy to bond with the young mothers juggling to grow up and having to face their newborn babies being ripped out of their arms. If I wasn't familiar with the author then I would be convinced that the story was written and told by a mother.
What a way to honor anyone close to your heart, who was forced into one of these homes for unwed young pregnant girls.
I've heard rumors about these girls and words I was taught to use for them.
I've changed my mind and heart and next time society asks me to join them in being judgmental, I'll remember what Grady Hendrix has shared and I'll know to be more empathetic.
the plot and characters really weren't bad but oh. my. god. the over explained EVERYTHING and the drawn out narrative feel like the author must have been paid by the word and wanted to make every penny they could.
Set against the backdrop of teenage pregnancy in 1970s America, the novel attempts to merge a harsh, almost documentary-style portrayal of institutional control with a coming-of-age occult drama. While imaginative in concept, the execution ultimately feels uneven.
One of the most annoying aspects of the novel is its shift in narrative style. The movement between third-person narration and a first-person perspective disrupts the flow, making it difficult to stay fully immersed in the story.
The book walks a fine line between social commentary and supernatural suspense. The depiction of the era’s treatment of pregnant teenagers appears realistic but the documentary tone often clashes with the elements of teenage witchcraft and paranormal drama. Instead of complementing each other, the two threads compete for attention, leaving the novel feeling tonally divided, neither part apparently worthy of its own novel.
That said, it’s hard not to feel sympathy for the central characters. Their vulnerability and lack of support within the system are portrayed with compassion. Yet despite their difficult circumstances, many of them come across as underdeveloped or bland, making it challenging to form a lasting emotional connection.
Ironically, the most disturbing moments arrive early on, with several shocking quotes in the opening pages that linger more vividly than much of the plot that follows.
An imaginative story but Witchcraft for Wayward Girls never really delivers.
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