One that would happily have fit into our Halloween reviews this year, Emilia’s novel involves witchcraft and strange goings-on at various times in English history.
The story follows the lives of three women – Altha is a twenty-one-year-old living in Northern England in 1619, Violet is a young girl living in 1942 and Kate is a young thirty-something living in 2019.
Despite this enormous range in years, it is clear that whatever the time-period, the women never have it easy. Altha is a healer who is on trial for witchcraft, accused of killing a local man. Known locally for her uncanny connection with nature and animals, she is seen by many as a threat that in a time of witch-hunting must be eliminated.
Violet is a young girl in a comparative life of privilege, living in a large manor, but is more interested in collecting insects and climbing trees than in becoming a proper young lady. She is generally ignored in favour of her brother Graham and is denied a future career in science because of her sex.
Bringing us up to modern times, Kate is a woman whose lifestyle and career is gradually being erased by her overbearing boyfriend Simon. To escape, Kate flees London – abandoning everything – for Cumbria and Weyward* Cottage, inherited from her great-aunt. There, a secret lurks in the bones of the house, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.
These initially quite disparate stories (and dissimilar characters too!) eventually intertwine and link. The key element that binds them is their individual connections to nature and the world around them. As the story progresses it is clear that each in their own way has a deep understanding and affinity with the plants, insects and animals around them – even the landscapes, which form an important part of the story. In particular, crows and insects seem to form an important link between the women, their present and their past.
All of them live in their own male-dominated world, with their actions dictated to by the men in their lives, and this is well-portrayed. This could easily become one of those stories that simplify things down to essentially “All Men are B*stards”, and whilst there are moments when this tone does seem prevalent, to be fair there are male exceptions, briefly represented as they are.
In the end the characters are triumphant, that despite all of the difficulties and obstacles put in their way, each of the women in their own way succeed, and I suspect that it is this element that makes the book work. As an aside, I thought that it was good to read a book with a definite ending for a change, as a result of what happens to these women.
In summary, Weyward is an engaging read, with intriguing details across the ages in a story of witchcraft and womanhood. The characters are interesting and varied, with a plot, whilst not particularly original, that keeps your attention throughout.
*The author points out at the beginning that the word ‘Weyward’ is used in the First Folio edition of Macbeth, although in later editions ‘Weyward’ was replaced by ‘Weird’.
WEYWARD by Emilia Hart
Published by The Borough Press, February 2023
384 pages
ISBN: 978-0008499082
Review by Mark Yon
