Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

De: Grady Hendrix

Narrado por: Leslie Howard, Hillary Huber, Sara Morsey

"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).

Masterful

I was crying by the end of this book.
Grady Hendrix tells stories about women with empathy, understanding, and genuine care. This story is no exception. Rather, it is the pinnacle of those qualities. He tells a story of witch craft in the same way. There is no demonic force or devil here. There are women doing the best they can when no option is a good one.
The narrators capture the characters' emotions without feeling forced. The performances were captivating and heartfelt.
All around, this is worth every second.

A Groovy Book

Grady Hendrix at his best. And Leslie Howard perfectly captured the spirit of the book.

Wonderful story. Entertaining and deeply moving for me personally…

Since I’m adopted and my birth mother went to a home for wayward girls ….. this was more thoughtful and touching than I was expecting .
A great story and I enjoyed it very much. Always down for a Grady Hendrix book .

Powerful puts it lightly.

I dont know how Grady did it. With every turn I felt the pain, torture, sadness, shame. Then I felt the power, possibility, empathy, dignity and triumph. Although, our journey as women is all of the things and then some... I am forever grateful to be a Woman.

I thought I loved Grady Hendrix before, but…

This is my new favorite Hendrix book. He just writes women so well! I wanted to punch some of the male characters in this book (and a couple of the women as well). I could relate to the feeling of not having control over your own body, mind and future. It feels pretty apt considering the current political leanings regarding women’s issues.
I love that all of the endings don’t have to be happy but it’s still satisfying.

The last chapter had me sobbing.