Weyward by Emilia Hart

Status: read Rating: 5/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

Simply in awe. Weyward by Emilia Hart has stolen my heart and is easily my favorite read of the year. Weyward is a beautiful historical fiction tale with themes of witchcraft, nature, womanhood, and gothic horror, this story delves into the lives of three women throughout scattered periods of time. Altha's story takes place in 1619, Violet's takes place in 1942, and Kate's takes place in 2019. Each woman's story is as captivating as the next.

As I was finishing Violet's chapter regarding her mother and her family's history, I began to tear up, I flipped the page to the next chapter and I stumbled upon a beautiful white feather. I began to sob. My boyfriend had gotten me this book from a second-hand online shop and the previous owner must have left it in there. I felt like the feather was fantastically symbolic of what I was feeling and I felt so connected in that moment to myself, to nature, and spiritually to those in my life who have passed.

Favourite Book characters - [4/5]: The Weyward Women in Weyward by Emilia Hart

“I had nature in my heart, she said. Like she did, and her mother before her. There was something about us---the Weyward women---that bonded us more tightly with the natural world. We can feel it, she said, the same way we feel rage, sorrow, or joy. The animals, the birds, the plants---they let us in, recognizing us as one of their own."

"Unruly women are always witches, no matter what century we’re in." - Kate Moore

Society has always wanted to control women, especially women who do not conform to conventions, who will not fit into neat little boxes of womanhood and femininity, who refuse to march to the beats of men's drums.

Altha: She knew who she was and what she was capable of. She held the knowledge and secrets from nature that very few were privy to. But people feared unusual women such as her. When witch hunts spread across the land and she was arrested with accusations of witchcraft, she had to do what she must to survive.

Violet: Raised by a strict and conservative father who didn't understand or approve of those like her, she knew she was different, and she didn't want what the likes of her father had in mind for her future. It would take courage and sacrifice to take her life into her own hands and live how she truly wanted.

Kate: She escaped an abusive boyfriend and went into hiding in the cottage that belonged to her recently deceased great-aunt. In the wilderness of the countryside far from the city, she would learn to come into her powers, discover herself and her inheritance, and find her space to take up in the world.

Three women of three generations, who had been brutalized by men and survived. Who knew the meaning of freedom. Who shared a bond that transcended time.

A heartwarming debut by the author. The writing is fluid and the storytelling is poignant. I love how the timelines blend and intertwine. This is a beautiful book that tugged my heartstrings. I rooted for each of the three main characters, heroines in their own tales that echo each other's. As a wild woman myself, I feel like I can relate to the Weywards. Our kind has always been around, everywhere.