Description

Instantly a New York Times bestseller and winner of two Goodreads Choice Awards (Best Debut Novel and Best Historical Fiction), Weyward by Emilia Hart has garnered praise as an Indie Next March 2023 Pick, a LibraryReads March 2023 Pick, and an Amazon “Best Books of the Year So Far” selection for 2023.

Celebrated author Sarah Penner, known for The London Séance Society, describes Weyward as, “a brave and original debut, a captivating tale exploring the collision between the natural world and an inherited legacy of witchcraft.”

I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

In 2019, Kate secretly escapes a life of torment in London, fleeing to the secluded Weyward Cottage inherited from a distant great-aunt she hardly remembers. Surrounded by wild gardens and walls overrun by ivy, the cottage offers her a haven from her abusive partner. But something mysterious rests within the cottage walls—a secret hidden since the witch trials of the seventeenth century.

In 1619, Altha stands accused of murdering a local farmer who was crushed beneath his own herd. As a child, Altha was trained by her mother in the ways of magic—not through spells, but through a profound connection and wisdom of nature itself. However, unusual women have long been feared, and now Altha must draw upon all her strength and wisdom in a desperate bid for freedom as accusations of witchcraft mount against her.

In 1942, during the chaos of World War II, Violet feels confined within her family’s increasingly decrepit estate. She is denied the education her brother receives and longs desperately for her mother, who died years ago amid troubling whispers of madness. Violet possesses only scant clues to her mother’s true self—a mysterious pendant inscribed with the letter “W” and the enigmatic word weyward scratched into the bedroom baseboard.

Masterfully interweaving three compelling narratives spanning five centuries, Emilia Hart’s remarkable debut novel, Weyward, offers an unforgettable tale celebrating the enduring strength and resilience of women.