In the summertime of 1970, 15-year-old Fern desires nothing greater than to stay a standard life together with her household and end out highschool. However a automotive experience together with her father takes an surprising flip when, with out warning, he steers her straight to the Wellwood Dwelling in St. Augustine, Florida. Why? As a result of Fern has fallen pregnant, and that is the place younger unwed moms go to cover their disgrace, have their infants, give them up for adoption, after which transfer on with their lives with out anybody being the wiser. In truth, nobody in Wellwood Dwelling even is aware of one another’s actual names (“Fern” isn’t Fern’s actual identify both).
Wellwood House is a horrifying place lead by the tough-as-nails Miss Wellwood. All the pieces the ladies do is strictly monitored, from the meals they eat to the actions they do to each factor they focus on, regardless of how seemingly minor. Nonetheless, Fern finds methods to forge friendships with the opposite women on the residence as they share of their predicaments and discover small moments of hope and happiness.
One factor that shines as a beacon of hope and lightweight for the ladies, particularly Fern? Studying. At a touring bookstore, Fern discovers a wierd how-to information to witchcraft. At first, none of it is sensible to right here, however the extra she and her new associates dive into the unusual spells and incantations within the e-book, the extra the powers of witchcraft reveal themselves to the ladies.
At first, witchcraft looks as if the reply to the ladies’ prayers: a approach for them to search out company and energy in a world that sees them as pariahs unworthy of sympathy and management of their very own our bodies. However nothing is ever that straightforward. A quest for revenge and energy comes with darkish penalties.
There are such a lot of issues I really like about this e-book. To start with, the witchcraft. As an impartial, free-thinking, child-free cat woman, I typically discover myself figuring out with witches greater than I worry them. I feel Hendrix does a very good job of acknowledging that facet of witches whereas additionally making the magic and lore round them tremendous scary and sometimes grotesque. The best way witches labored on this novel jogged my memory loads of Robert Eggers’ The Witch in that approach (complimentary).
The scariest a part of this novel had nothing to do with witches and every thing to do with the real-life terrors of being pregnant, particularly on this nation. Hendrix doesn’t shrink back from the extra brutal features of being pregnant and the methods ladies typically lose bodily autonomy the second they change into pregnant. It seems like it’s getting increasingly harmful to be pregnant, so the realities of this a part of the story are completely horrifying. It’s so price studying and contemplating.