Weyward, by Emilia Hart. St. Martin’s Press, 2023

This debut work of magical fiction follows the lives of three women: Altha, in the 1600s, Violet in the 1940s, and Kate, in 2019. They are connected by blood, as they come to find. They also sfhare a magical relationship to living things. And they all suffer at the hands of men, abused and used as the men saw fit.

Altha, the village herbal healer, finds herself accused of being a witch and causing deaths. Violet, at 16, is isolated by her father, living in the family estate and craving books, learning, and adventures while her father only sees her as a token to be married off. Kate is fleeing her abusive husband, determined to hide her pregnancy from him. He has micromanaged her life, parading her as a trophy while beating her at home- always making sure the bruises and cuts she always has are hidden by clothing. All three find shelter and solace in a shack in the forest, where there are tinctures ripening and herbs and food plants outside, and insects, birds, and critters gather around them. The land itself protects them.

I suspect that people who love Alice Hoffmann will love this novel. The strong women and the magic really put me in mind of ‘Practical Magic’. But this is no dim copy; this is a world of its own with a magic system with rules of its own. The magic isn’t overused; it’s mostly a quiet undercurrent, like having electricity available but not hooked up just yet. But when a life is threatened- be it the Weyward woman or her friends- it comes out with tremendous power. The setting is full of magic itself; the magic of life and beauty. The story is compelling; I held my breathe waiting to see what would happen to the Weyward women. Five stars.

The Member of the Wedding, by Carson McCullers. Bantam, 1946

During WW 2, 12 year old Frankie Addams lives in a small Southern town, and she is bored. Really bored. Her mother died giving birth to her, and her father is extremely distant. The other girls her age bully and ostracize her. Her only company is her six year old cousin John Henry, and the housekeeper Berenice Sadie Brown, a woman of color.  She wishes people could shift between male and female at will; Berenice wishes everyone was the same color. Over a few days in August, Frankie experiences some harsh things that could change how she lives her life.

When the family gets word that Frankie’s older brother will be coming home to be married, and will then have a short honeymoon before returning to his military unit, Frankie fixates on that event as the one thing that will save her. Both her brother and his fiancé have first names that start with J, so Frankie adopts the name Jasmine. She starts packing, in the belief that after the wedding, they will take her with them on their honeymoon and they will all live together. Although she tells this to everyone, only Berenice bothers to tell her that won’t happen. Told to go buy a dress for the wedding, she chooses one that is totally inappropriate for her age. That leads to some adventures on its own. Then comes the wedding… 

Although I sympathized with Frankie’s loneliness and frustration, I couldn’t stand how she made the wedding all about herself. I also disliked how she treated Berenice. Is she a bad child? No, she’s just ignored and left to grow up basically on her own. She’s on the verge of becoming a young woman, and no one is giving her clues on how to behave. A very well done coming of age story, but kind of hard to read, watching Frankie.

The Night Child, by Anna Quinn. Blackstone Publishing, 2018

Nora is a high school teacher with a knack for connecting with at risk students. She’s also the mother of a 5 year old daughter, and has a husband who is cheating on her, a fact which she is aware of but not wanting to deal with. One afternoon, sitting in her classroom after school, she sees a vision of a young girl with blue eyes. It leaves her rattled and confused. Then, a day later, she sees the face again, and this time it speaks, telling her to remember the Valentine’s dress.

Her husband is dismissive and doesn’t really want to hear about it. Nora goes to doctors; when they find nothing physically wrong, she sees a psychiatrist. During the session, she suddenly starts speaking in a little girl voice, and says she is Margaret. This is when stuff gets really serious. Nora’s –Margaret’s- past starts coming back to her, and it’s not pretty. Not only is it ugly, but she begins to see how it’s affected her entire adult life.

When I requested this book from Net Galley, I thought it was a supernatural horror story rather than what it is. This is kind of a hard book to read because of what Nora went through as a child. People who have undergone sexual abuse may find it very triggering. But for all the bad, there is signs of growth and renewal. This is a very well written book, but not one I would have picked up knowing what it was about. Most of the characters aren’t very well developed; they are very secondary to Nora and Margaret and what they are going through. Four and a half stars. 

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Girl Unbroken: A Sister’s Harrowing Story of Survival from the Streets of Long Island to the Farms of Idaho, by Regina Calcaterra and Rosie Maloney. William Morrow, 2016

“Girl Unbroken” is a truly horrific true story of one child growing up in multiple abusive settings. Rosie’s mother, Cookie, is mentally ill, an alcoholic and drug abuser, and reacts to anything with anger and anger brought out her violent side.

Cookie had five children by five different men. None of the men stayed in her life. The three older sisters escaped- I believe their story is told in “Etched in Sand”, Regina Calcaterra’s first book. That left Rosie and her older brother Norm to live on the streets, get sent to a foster home that was almost as bad as being with Cookie, get kidnapped by Cookie and moved to Idaho, and end up living on a farm owned by Cookie’s boyfriend as basically slave labor. Rosie also was sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend.

How all five of these people not only survived this torrent of mental, physical, and sexual abuse but turned out to be good, productive, good hearted adults is beyond me. They were born with spines of steel. Thanks to her older sisters, Rosie believes in herself despite the things her mother says to her about her worthlessness. Not only does she do all the farm chores, but she makes straight A’s and is active as a cheerleader and is in many school activities and attends church. Is she perfect? Almost but not quite. She abuses alcohol for a while in high school, but has the self-awareness to stop when confronted about it. Against all odds, she has made a good life for herself.

The book, as I said, is horrific. It’s a can’t-put-it-down read because you have to know what horrible thing her mother or step father will inflict on her next. Rosie is one of the abused children who fell through the cracks of a system that is supposed to save them. My heart aches for the child she was. 

The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something- anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents. 

I received this book free from the Amazon Vine program in return for a fair review. 

Neither of these things influenced my review.