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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 the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, 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 knows she’s going to go home and 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).
Publication Year: 2025
So I've struggled a bit with Grady Hendrix and his books. I tried to read The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, but simply could not get into it and DNF'ed about a quarter of the way through. I gave him another shot with My Best Friend's Exorcism and absolutely loved it. So my question is for those of you who've read this: should I give this book a shot? Or should I try another one of his titles like How to Sell a Haunted House? Or maybe avoid his current publications?? Please help a poor grrl out :)
Okay. I really feel for Neva/Fern. But after this fart scene, I know Rose will be my favorite.
I've been a fan of all the Grady Hendrix books I've read so far and I'm enjoying this one as well but I'm not sure how I am going to feel once it takes that 'campy horror twist' that I normally love so much in Hendrix's other works. Being Irish we have so much dark history with mother and baby homes ran by the church, the last being closed within my lifetime, so its not a distant history. I'm not sure how I'll feel about it, I'm hoping I can separate it in my mind as this books feels so American rather than Irish. I'm going to keep going for the moment, here's hoping the girls get their revenge on those who have wronged them🤞🏻