My book club knocked it out of the park this month with Weyward. Coincidentally, Barnes and Noble chose it as this month’s speculative fiction pick. Clearly we have excellent taste. Emilia Hart has crafted a moving narrative across time by telling us the story of Altha Weyward in 1619, Violet Aryes in 1942, and Kate Aryes in 2019. Altha, Violet, and Kate are Weyward women. Born with the gift of being in tune with and connected to nature.
For Altha, raised by her mother, another Weyward woman, it’s a way of life. Understanding the way of plants and being healers in their small community. But when a patient dies the community grows ever more intolerant to the strange single mother and her daughter. Years later the label witch is applied to Altha as she stands trial for murder by using witchcraft to cause a herd of cattle to stampede and kill their owner.
Violet Aryes lost her mother at a very young age. Her father refuses to tell his children anything regarding their mother and the staff are forbidden to as well. As a result, Violet was kept from the knowledge of her heritage. Even so Violet found herself naturally drawn to the outdoors and all the insects it contains and pained when its access was denied to her. When Violet’s innocence is used against her and she is discarded, she finds record of her family history and the power within.
Kate Aryes was born with an intense curiosity of the natural world. But the day Kate was distracted by a flying crow and her father dies saving her from being struck by a car, is when Kate firmly shuts the door on this inclination and shuns the outdoors. Unaware of her gift she becomes trapped by guilt and is easy prey to a controlling man who further isolates her from the world. It takes an unexpected gift for Kate to learn that she is a Weyward woman and the power that brings.
All three women are tormented by horrible men in their lives and awful things happen to them. Altha suffers deprivation and shameful humiliation in connection to her trial. But that is nothing compared to the abuse her childhood friend is suffering at the hands of an abusive husband. Violet’s rape and then abandonment is despicable. Kate is physically and mentally abused by her partner and literally trapped in her apartment by his control. It’s a delight when each woman taps into her power to bring justice and vengeance.
This is Hart’s debut novel and imho it is an overall rousing success. If I had one tiny nitpick, it is that Altha’s chapters did not read as someone who lived in 1619. I perhaps wouldn’t have noticed except the next book I read was K.J. Charles The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen which uses language to really capture a time and place. However! I was highly engrossed by the women’s stories. Sometimes upset that a chapter would end and the perspective would shift, I wanted to find out what was going to happen next right away! I highly recommend this book. Especially if you like a little bit of magic in a story of women claiming their full power.