Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
by Grady Hendrix
Horror | Historical Fiction | Thriller
496 Pages
Released January 2025
Rating: ★★★ 3/4
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Content Warnings
This book is such a conundrum for me! On the one hand, I devoured it just as quickly as I do every Grady Hendrix book. On the other? I was disappointed in the direction this book went. Let me explain.
This book follows Fern (that’s not her real name), a young, unwed, pregnant woman unceremoniously dropped at the door of a Women’s Home for young girls of the same unfortunate circumstance. During their time at the home, the girls cook, clean, study and pray, until the day that their babies are born and then are returned back to their life “before”. Fern is desperate to regain some semblance of control over her life and when she is given a book promising her just that, she doesn’t hesitate to use it.
The book starts off great. I was immediately drawn into the story and Fern’s life. I admit, I was a little overwhelmed at all the girls and their backstories but as the main characters started to form, I felt more comfortable. I appreciate Hendrix’s effort to shine a light on women’s history, especially the dark parts of it and I think this book paints a bleak and sadly honest picture of what many young women experienced before social progress.
I was really enjoying the direction the book was going and looking forward to the witchcraft bit. But I was surprised with the direction the book started going after that. What I wanted was female camaraderie and empowerment; Women supporting each other and taking their lives into their own hands after being told how to live and how to feel. And while initially it seemed to go in that direction, I was perplexed when the witchcraft started taking an ominous turn.
It seemed like no matter what decision was laid before these girls, they were trapped into choosing something they didn’t want either way. It didn’t feel empowering, it just felt like there was no winning no matter what happened. And maybe that was the intention, to show that ultimately you had to deal with the circumstances you were given but boy did I find that disappointing.
I was also surprised at the conflicting types of witchcraft, it seemed to be praising one and vilifying the other and I found that to be disappointing as well. I’d hoped it would be more in the line of: there is more than one way you can foster your own power. Alas, that wasn’t the case here.
That said, this was 100% a me problem. The book is fantastically written and really engaging. The characters are great and I liked the ending, I just was personally unhappy with how we got there. But if you’re a Grady Hendrix or women’s horror fan, it’s still a solid book.