Weyward by Emilia Hart
Summary (from the publisher): 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.
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.
Review: Told her in three alternating time periods, this novel follows three women who are all part of the same family who have a deep connection to the natural world. In 1619, Altha is on trial after being accused of being a witch when a local farmer was stampeded to death by his herd. Altha was trained by her mother as a healer and the community views her with suspicion. In 1942, Violet is trapped in her father's estate. She envies her brother who is sent away to school and wonders about her long dead mother, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. And in 2019, Kate flees London and her abusive partner and seeks refuge in Weyward Cottage, inherited from her great aunt she hardly knew. Little does she know that the cottage has been in her family for generations. Not only is it her legacy but she has also inherited the family gift for connections with nature that the women in her family has all shared.
This was such a beautiful novel about three women in the same family who share similar abilities but are also joined by the repression they face. All three are misunderstood and seen as others by their community and are relatively isolated. I loved all three storylines equally, which isn't often the case with novels with multiple timelines. Hart did an excellent job at building connections between the three storylines and the three women and slowly revealing the plotlines in each timeline as the novel progressed. Each chapter would end on such a cliffhanger, and I would be so anxious to know what would happen next to that woman, only to get sucked into the next woman's chapter just as equally! Such a great novel; even the cover art was gorgeous and so well done.
I liked how the author tied up Altha and Violet's stories tremendously. However, Kate's was just a little too supernatural and tidy for me. Otherwise, this was a great read and a wonderful way to kick off my 2024 reading.
Stars: 4.5
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