Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

'I did an evil thing to be put in here, and I’m going to have to do an evil thing to get out.’

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood House 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. There, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to keep her baby and escape to a commune. Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Every moment of their waking day 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.

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Grady Hendrix’s Witchcraft for Wayward Girls captures the deeply unsettling world of mother and baby homes, a reality familiar to readers from Ireland and other countries with similar institutions. In this haunting blend of historical fiction and supernatural horror, the novel follows fifteen-year-old Fern as she’s sent to Wellwood House, a home for “wayward girls” in 1970s Florida. Pregnant and scared, Fern is one of many girls at Wellwood expected to give up their babies in secrecy and return to their lives as if nothing happened. Alongside girls like Rose, a free spirit determined to keep her child, and Holly, a mute girl with a tragic mystery, Fern quickly learns that this system values control above all.

Through the gift of a witchcraft book from a sympathetic librarian, Fern and the other girls discover a world of rituals and powers far removed from the suffocating confines of Wellwood. But as they begin to experiment, they learn that magic can be both a blessing and a curse—freedom comes with a price, and their use of power, born from desperation, could lead to unintended consequences. Hendrix doesn’t shy away from showing the brutalities of these institutions and the darkness that surrounds their legacies, lending a sense of grim reality to the story’s supernatural edge.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a chillingly unique read, resonant with the themes of autonomy, agency, and the consequences of power. Readers might also enjoy the eerie atmospheric horror of The Good House by Tananarive Due, which explores the lasting impacts of trauma and haunted legacies. For those interested in understanding the impact of mother and baby homes, the movie Philomena, starring Judi Dench, offers an affecting portrayal of one woman’s quest for answers and justice.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix releases on the 14th of January, 2024. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.