Review: Weyward

Weyward by Emilia Hart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am rounding up from a 3.5 on this book. It was good, I was invested in the characters, and towards the end I didn't want to put it down, but I found myself dissatisfied when I finished it.
This is the story of the Weyward women, who have for centuries lived as "wise women" in a small cottage in the remote English countryside. The prologue of the book hinted at a connection with Macbeth/Shakespeare/ancient magic that was widely known to those in Elizabethan England and our titular women, so I kept waiting for this tantalizing hint to be addressed. But it never was. The book went in a completely different direction--these women who seem to have a preternatural connection to nature live in fear of being discovered or "seen" by those they see as a threat. And the biggest group of people that they seem to see as a threat is men. So Altha, who lives in the 1600s and is on trial for witchcraft, must endure the accusations of those who seem to resent her and feel threatened by her. Violet, living in a manor house during WWII, is 16, loves to climb trees and laze about the small beck near her home, and longs to be allowed to study science, or even visit the nearby village! And Kate is living in the present day, on the run from her physically and mentally abusive boyfriend. The reader comes to realize that each of these women is connected, and the book unfolds to detail how each of them--through challenges, heartbreak, and tragedy--comes into their full understanding of their womanhood and their power as Wayward women.
The reason I am giving this book 3.5 stars instead of 4 is that, as I stated, there were a few things that gave me a nagging feeling of unfulfillment or wanting more. The first is that the book was a bit slow in the beginning and, aside from Violet's storyline, it really took a while for anything to HAPPEN. Altha just seemed to relate the facts of her trial. It could have been powerful and given some poignancy to what women in similar situations went through during that time. But I just had a hard time connecting with Altha. And it seemed like Kate just sat around a hovel of a cottage and jumped every time a bird flapped its wings (I kept having to remind myself that Kate had survived some terrible traumas and was coming out of a horrific situation, because her attitude kept getting on my nerves). The other issue I had with the book was the almost dogmatic view of Altha's mother--which she passed on to her daughter and seemingly all her descendants--that all men are power-hungry, dangerous, ignorant, and useless (except for procreation). There certainly are some terrible men in this book, but there are also some very gentle and understanding men who help the Weyward women quite a bit. It would have felt like a more complete story if Altha had been more appreciative of the man who helped her on the jury, or the man who brought her food and supplies. If Violet had come to the understanding that her brother was pivotal in her survival and helping her through her trauma, her story would have been much more powerful, especially seeing how that led straight to Kate's journey. And finally at the end when Kate's story really picked up in tension and action, her decisions seemed REALLY dumb. I got annoyed at her.
As I said, this was a good book. But I am giving it 3.5 stars because it wasn't a great book. I had some issues with it, but if you enjoy magical realism this may be the book for you. I will probably read another book by this author because for the most part I did enjoy reading this story.

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