I absolutely loved this debut novel that follows three women in the Weyward lineage at key moments in their lives: Altha, who is being tried as a witch in the early 1600s; Violet, who experiences a painful, turbulent summer when she is 16-years-old; and Kate, who moves to Weyward cottage after escaping an abusive relationship.

It's clear that the Weyward women have some deeper connection to nature, able to befriend (and perhaps communicate with) insects, birds, and other wild creatures. Yet are they as witchy as their families and communities believe them to be? And what will happen when they begin to access their natural talents?

I enjoyed how narratives and artifacts connected them over the centuries, and how although they lived separate lives (Violet and Kate only meet once, when Kate is a small child), they found moments of communion. Each of the three women's stories felt balanced; I was happy to dip in and out of each of their transformative moments because each had a uniquely compelling story. This was also appropriately dark; their power is activated by physical and sexual violence perpetrated on them and other women. While they are healers and stewards of nature, they are also instruments of justice and balance when they exert their talents.

Highly recommend!

I love a book with a beautiful cover, but sometimes the cover doesn’t accurately reflect the contents. I’ve bought many a pretty cover with a bland book inside. Thankfully, Emilia Hart’s Weyward is a great cover with a great book to boot!
Weyward is a multi-generational tale about three women in the accurately-named Weyward clan – Altha in 1619, Violet in 1942, and Kate in 2019. Each of the women is struggling with a form of male oppression. Altha awaits trial for murder-by-witchcraft of a local farmer; Violet is trapped by social conventions in an unfulfilling life, longing for the education her brother seemingly wastes; Kate is fleeing from an abusive relationship in London.
Kate flees to Weyward cottage, which she inherited from her great-aunt Violet, whom she barely knew. As she starts to find her place in the nearby village and build a life on her own, she discovers artifacts of her aunt’s life – and even further back – that suggest that there was something more to Violet. Added to this suspicion are the villagers’ whispers of witchcraft, and soon Violet is on a mission to find out more about her relative.
For the most part, the Weyward women would qualify as healers, but there is a touch of magical realism in this novel, as the women’s affinity with nature takes the form of a bond with insects (and a particular crow) that can only be attributed to a form of magic. Their magic is used to heal, for the most part, connecting them to nature and its balance of life and death.
I don’t always like multiple timeline/multiple narrative novels, but Hart gets the balance right here. Each of the women is a fully-developed character whose thoughts and deeds feel appropriate for the time in which her story takes place. They each have a distinct voice, too, which means there’s very little confusion about which character or timeline I was reading. Further, each woman’s story was interesting in its own right. I didn’t feel the need to rush through a chapter or two to find out what was happening with another character. Even when one character’s chapter ended with a cliffhanger, the novel was well paced, so that I knew I wouldn’t have to wait long to find out what happened.
Weyward is an excellent debut from Emilia Hart, and I look forward to more great stories to come!

I will be linking a full Instagram and goodreads review shortly!

This book has my whole heart!!!! I loved it so much. The relationships between the different generations of weyward women, even when thought didn’t know each other, was so special. The friendship with Grace was lovely (at certain times lol) and graham was such a sweetie. I cried a few times and ugh I need a hard copy of this asap because I just need it on my shelves!!!

I could not have asked for anything more from this!!

Full Review:
Ok so, I absolutely LOVED Weyward by Emilia Hart!!! I definitely ordered myself a hard copy because of how much I loved it. It has 3 different POVs, Altha (1619), Violet (1942), and Kate (2019) and seeing how their stories are connected, intertwined, and come together results in an amazing read. The way they are all interconnected feels so special to read about and I loved every moment of it.

I was left with goosebumps at the end of this book and immediately wanted to start over at the beginning and re-read it, which I basically never do outside of the fantasy genre! I absolutely adored the different relationships between women within the 3 different POVs and it truly felt like I was reading all 3 of their diaries and getting an intimate look at all aspects of their lives.

There are some trigger warnings you may want to check out, but I highly recommend this!

Thank you so much to @net and @stm for my ARC of this one!

Feminist, witchy, perfection. I alternated between the audio and physical book while reading this one. I loved both formats. This book was a little Salem Witch Trials and a little The Scarlet Letter. I really loved how the 3 timelines and 3 POV's wove together to create such a rich story. It's a story of women over coming adversity, a mother's strength and love, finding the power within yourself, and being strong enough to begin again.

My only caution is this one has some tough themes. Triggers include child loss, abortion, and domestic abuse.

I loved this historical fantasy!
It’s a wonderful exploration of generational trauma, a commentary on the status of women throughout history, and a celebration of the indomitable nature of the human spirit.

Full review to come on my blog!

Three strong women, three different eras, all connected by their kinship and their deep attachment to nature. Magic, a word with many definitions, is what I felt reading this well written novel. Descriptive prose and well developed characters make this a book well worth a look. Recommended reading.

Looking for something a little magical to read?

This title is perfect for you then and is a brand new book released this week! Thank you St Martins for the advanced e-copy!

In this stunning debut novel, we are welcomed into the world of the Weyward women. Spanning over five centuries, the stories of Altha, Violet, and Kate are told, each with their own struggles but all with something in common. With powers deeply rooted to the natural world, these women must find the strength to survive in an unjust world of men. Though living years apart, their lives and more importantly, hopes and dreams for a brighter tomorrow are all beautifully intertwined.

I absolutely loved this book and practically devoured it in one sitting! If you love stories about strong women with multiple points of view and a tad bit of witchcraft, I know you will like this just as much as I did.

I made it as far as the rats hanging by their tails at the roadside and had to give up. I'm deeply squeamish about depictions of violence against animals, and generally stop reading a book if I hit these. I was genuinely interested in this title when I first read about it, and my interested was piqued further when it started receiving enthusiastic reviews from my GoodReads friends. I do try to be careful about books I request because I don't want publishers to "waste" a copy on my if I suspect it's something I won't be able to read, but every so often I wind up with a review copy I can't complete, as was the case with Weyward. I very much appreciate your generosity in providing me with an electronic review copy of this title. I will continue to try to request only books that don't have content I find distressing. I look forward to writing positive reviews of future books you approve me for. I'm giving this title three stars as a sort of balancing out between my issues with it and the way it's been enjoyed by readers whose opinions I trust.

This one was deliciously witchy, without being halloween-y (if that makes sense). I loved the story of the 3 women connecting and got mad at the patriarchy again. Also this cover is absolutely to die for! Thank you so much SMP for the ARC of this one!

What an entrancing debut novel! Told via three narrators, with three separate timelines, this book kept me spellbound.

Altha 1619 – on trial for witchcraft. Like her mother before her, Altha Weyward is a healer. A woman with an uncanny connection to the natural world.

Violet 1942 – longs for an education like her brother Graham. Is enthralled by insects and the natural world and will eventually become an entomologist. A traumatic event when she is just sixteen years old sees her living in a tumbledown cottage a few miles from the grand Orton Hall where she grew up. The cottage’s name is ‘Weyward’, and it is where Violet’s own mother Elizabeth, and her maternal grandmother Elinor, once lived.

Kate 2019 – flees her abusive partner in London and seeks refuge in a ramshackle cottage in Cumbria which was left to her by her great-aunt Violet. There, at Weyward, she discovers her true self, her true nature, her genealogical history which explains her preternatural rapport with the natural world around her.

The three women are strong, resilient, and have exceptional abilities. All three of their stories were told in alternate chapters. All were equally compelling.

This was a strong and auspicious debut novel with some elements of the paranormal, yet with a forceful feminist message. Highly recommended!

Weyward by, Emilia Hart, is an utterly engaging supernatural story about the magic of family. It's about three of the Weyward women during three different timelines. While I don't usually care for non linear timelines, this one seemed to work, just right.
First, there was Altha. It's 1619 and she's on trial for the murder of a local farmer, even though he was killed by his own herd of dairy cows. But people see witchcraft everywhere so, she's forced to try and prove her innocence.
Next comes young Violet. It's 1942 and her father has made her a prisoner in her own home. Her mother passed away when she was young but Violet's father refuses to tell her anything about her. Then a strange cousin appears and her life becomes even more challenging.
Last, but not least, comes Kate. It's 2019 and she's left her abusive boyfriend for the cottage that her Great Aunt left to her. Soon she's making herself at home and becoming familiar with her own strength, as well as her family's history.

I found "Weyward" so captivating that I couldn't put it down! This book follows the stories of three different women in the Weyward family that are separated by generations, but connected by their affinity with nature and healing. Althea is a young woman in the 1600s accused of witchcraft. Violet lives in the 1930s with her oppressive father, and is trying to unravel the mystery surrounding her deceased mother. Kate is escaping an abusive and controlling relationship, and in her flight finds her way back to her ancestral home.

The writing is beautiful, I felt transported to each time in history and connected to all of the main characters. I found the magical element unique and loved the ties to nature that made it seem believable. It's not a book about casting spells or chanting, but using knowledge of plants and a connection with animals to make things happen. Hopefully other readers appreciate insects, crows, and spiders even more after reading this! These women all really find their inner strength as the novel progresses, and I loved watching them blossom and find their voices. The pacing was great, and the switch between character points-of-view was very clear.

I definitely recommend this book, especially if you love nature, magic, and independent women. "Resilient" is a word used in the book description, and I think it perfectly encapsulates my takeaway feelings about all three characters. Trigger warnings for domestic abuse, rape, abortion/miscarriage and thoughts of suicide - but they are not the main focus of the book. I look forward to reading whatever Emilia Hart writes next. I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Actual Rating 4.5

I love witchcraft and nature elements in books and I so so wanted to love this one. For me this book was just too heavy to be truly enjoyable, there are all the heavy themes, partner abuse, abortion, SA.

This novel, written with great care and love by Emilia Hart, is most obviously about women and their connection to the earth and to nature. To what being kept away from it does to us and what being steeped in it does for us. That’s the way it’s always been.

It is also, under the surface, a treatise on how men fundamentally can’t (and therefore don’t or won’t) understand that connection women have to the earth and consistently covet them and snatch them up like magpies and then cage them and guard them sometimes to the point of violence. Men are the hunters. Women are the hunted. The more innate power a woman carries, the more men will be drawn to her. That’s the way it’s always been.

Weyward takes these two ideas, both of which are true if you dig down to our evolutionary roots, and soaks them in magical realism, lovely prose, vivid imagery, terrific world building, and careful character construction to weave together three timelines featuring women of the Weyward family line and how these two themes affect(ed) their lives, relationships, travails, and how the rest of their lives panned out. Each story is filled with earnest and heartfelt emotion.

While at times a touch too on the nose or melodramatic, this novel is one I’d definitely recommend picking up for a lyrical and moving read.

I was provided a copy of this book by NetGalley and the author. All views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Historical Fiction/Literary Fiction/Magical Realism/Women’s Fiction/5 Star Reads

I received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for my opinion.

Genre: Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Magical Realism
Trigger Warnings: Violence and abuse
Format: 3 Point of Views, 3 Time Lines, Letters, and Journals

The opening gives a Shakespeare reference to Macbeth—make sure and read the quote because you will want to know it for the rest of the story. So fascinating!

I've always thought that women as witches is interesting because it was a way that men labeled women to suppress or punish them.

But here, we have three women in different time periods, all who have suffered because of being a witch. They don't cast spells or have really ritualistic magic but an affinity for nature. As Kate lives in the cottage, she discovers more about her ancestors. (I love getting to read letters and such in books!)

All three of the women's lives interested me, and I was happy that I never had to wait long to get back to one of the time frames to learn more. There are similar themes but each faces the trials of her own time period. Once I started, I didn't want to put this one down. This is a story of personal courage. Finding strength. Believing in yourself.

I'm impressed this is a debut novel—the rich complexity and nuance makes Weyward feel like it was penned by an experienced author.

I definitely recommend this book for adult readers.

Keep your eyes open for crows.
Happy reading!

PS—A shout-out to the illustrator and designer for the front cover. I adore it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, SMP, and Emilia Hart for an advance copy of this book for review.

I am so thrown by how beautiful this book is. This is Emilia Hart's debut novel so I had never read anything by her and though the cover and synopsis captivated me I was hoping for it to just be good. I think I genuinely surprised myself when, about half way though, I was crying and just had the realization 'oh. this is a 5 star'. And I stand by that! So Weyward by Emilia Hart is my first 5 star read in 2022. I'm very stingy with my 5 stars so I cannot stress how much it really earned it.

Weyward follows 3 different women in 3 different timelines all of the same bloodline. Without getting into spoiler territory you see the origin of this magical family, the time that made them what they are and where they are now. I was worried that the timelines would get confusing but the voices of the women and the setting makes it so easy to swap back to that timeline though I will say each chapter made you want to stay in that time- even though you love the others just as much. The magic in this book is also very subtle. Sometimes reading a fantasy can seem overwhelming if you have to learn entire systems or new worlds but this was just our world but with a magical asterisk next to nature.

I want to be able to read this book for the first time again already and I just finished it.

I loved this magical story of powerful women in the Weyward family!!!!!!!!! This novel enchanted me from the first page and I sped through it loving every single page of it.

What a beautiful story with amazing characters. This story brings you in with both beautiful writing and a captivating story.

The story follows three women and three timelines. Altha, Violet, and Kate weaving together their stories with magical nature.

Altha a woman living in 1600s and on trial for witchcraft. Violet, a young woman in the 1940s struggling for education and wanting to get out of her father dominance. Kate, an woman who in modern day escaping from an abusive husband to her aunts cottage where she starts to learn more about the women in her family.

One of my favourite reads of this year and a book I will continue to recommend.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Emilia Hart for the arc of this wonderful novel.

Weyward was a captivating book that followed the stories of three women throughout different time periods. I absolutely loved that the author set this book up that way and think she did a beautiful job connecting all the Weyward women's stories! This book is filled with magic and so much emotion and I think readers will love the stories of the Weyward women and their struggles and triumphs throughout their lives and through the ages.

This engaging story spans three different Weyward women and the trials and tribulations that they endured. These women had their share of struggles but were able to overcome everything.

The book spans several centuries, starting with the early-1600s when women were being accused of witchcraft. Altha had experienced a lot in her young life, but the crushing blow came when she was accused of killing a man, despite no evidence to support that claim. It jumps forward to the 1920s. Violet is 16 and has no idea what happened to her mother. She lives under the thumb of a controlling father but yearns for more. The last woman is Kate in the present day. She is married to an abusive man and needs to get out. It takes a lot of courage to leave, but she manages to escape. But is her battle over?

I admired all of these women for what they were put through. As we know from history, women were not treated well, and this was no different for Altha and Violet. However, they had something that helped them, faith and a connection with nature that grounded them when the situation arose. Violet is Kate's great-aunt, and we learn later in the book what brings them together, or at least why she leaves a small cottage to Kate. This cottage is part of what saves all of these women from the cruelty that surrounds them. But it is also their strength, independence, and desire to make the world a better place for themselves and others.

Each woman's story is told in parts, but they blend together, and it helps the reader understand the familial relationship between them. I felt for each of these women and the abuse and neglect that they encountered. Thankfully, they all rose above their situations to find a better place. Each woman finds their own path despite their surroundings and leaves a legacy for others to discover.

I enjoyed this book and was only left with one or two questions, primarily for clarification. It was hard for me to put it down because I wanted to know if they would escape their situations and move on to a better world. 

We give this book 5 paws up.