Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
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There’s power in a book…
They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.
Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.
Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.
In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).
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I'm a huge Grady Hendrix fan. This is one of his strongest in my opinion. I love the moral gray areas. Neither the witchcraft or the Christian opposite are the solution that anyone needs.
15yr old Fern (Neva) is sent to Wellwood House in 1970 to give birth in secret and surrender her baby for adoption. Under the horrible supervision of Miss Wellwood, Fern and the other pregnant girls form bonds, united by their shared isolation and desperation. When a librarian gives Fern an occult book but kind of kitschy on witchcraft, the girls discover a way to reclaim their power in a world that has stripped everything. But wielding such power comes with major and dangerous consequences.
“There’s power in a book” is a great way to describe this scary, highly uncomfortable story about young girls reclaiming their power in a society intent on silencing them. This was a great story of defiance, sisterhood, and the dangers of wielding forbidden knowledge. I loved all of that part! I loved it enough that I wanted to read it slower to stay in that story longer. AND THERE’S A CHARACTER NAMED ZINNIA!!!!
HOWEVER, I didn’t like the way he wrote some characters and moments—especially involving Black characters and birth scenes—feels inauthentic and could have benefited from greater sensitivity. The birth scenes were kinda comical and I thought, “ugh a man definitely wrote this!”
Despite these missteps, the book’s feminist undertones left an indelible mark, reminding me of that quote, “they didn’t burn witches, they burned women.” - witch hunts were never about witches, but about silencing women. If you like eerie, thought-provoking stories then I definitely recommend this one!
“They hate us enough. Don’t hate yourself too.”
“What do you think librarians do? Checkout books? Certainly not! We deliver knowledge to those who need it.”
I tore through Witchcraft for Wayward Girls in a day—it’s an incredibly compelling read, with layered characters and a story that’s both gripping and unsettling. Beyond the narrative itself, there’s some heavy thematic material here, especially when considered against the backdrop of current events, making it all the more resonant.
Interestingly, while this is marketed as horror, the horror elements are sporadic. There’s a slow build-up to anything supernatural, followed by a particularly graphic scene that seems to signal a full shift into horror—only for the novel to ease off the gas again for long stretches. It never loses momentum, but it reads more like dark fantasy with horror elements rather than a straight-up horror novel.
One of its greatest strengths is the immersive atmosphere. Hendrix paints a vivid picture of Wellwood House—you can practically feel the oppressive Florida heat and the claustrophobic unease of the girls’ situation. Without diving into spoilers, this is absolutely worth a read, both for the story itself and the broader conversations it invites.
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