The newest from Grady Hendrix is finally here!
Thanks to Berkley Publishing for the gifted copy
WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS – Grady Hendrix (Released January 14th, 2025)
Book Description:
There’s power in a book…
They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, 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, terrified 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 knows she’s going to go home and 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 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.
My Thoughts: 5/5 stars
Hendrix hasnt disappointed me yet! I love the variety in his books – my two favorites are still My Best Friend’s Exorcism and Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. There’s a good amount of levity and humor to mix in with the horror and scares. This book is very different. It’s heavier and has a different tone than his previous books (at least of the ones I’ve read!)
This story reminds you of the power librarians and books hold. One book of the occult from a librarian changes the course of the lives of the girls at the Wellwood Home for Wayward Girls. Hidden in St. Augustine, Florida, there is a place to send the girls who “grew up too fast” and are soon to be unwed mothers. It’s the 1970s, and we meet an interesting group of girls. Everything they do is planned out and told “it’s what’s best” for them and their unborn children.
Our main character, Fern, is fifteen, scared and unsure. We stay in her POV, and Hendrix does an incredible job really making her come to life. What the girls experience is heartbreaking and upsetting. This is very character driven, and the horror elements don’t really come into play immediately – at least not the witchcraft. I feel like this is perfect for those who want some lighter horror and also enjoy some historical fiction!
Jessicamap Reviews 