Weyward bones rested in the woods, in the fells, where our flesh fed plants and flowers, where trees wrapped their roots around our skeletons. We did not need stonemasons to carve our names into rock as proof we had existed. All we needed was to be returned to the wild.
Weyward
by Emilia Hart
Genre: Magical Realism
About: 1619, Altha stands trial, accused of witchcraft. 1942, Violet must prove herself 'normal' or else be sent to boarding school. 2019, Kate is fleeing her abusive boyfriend. All three are Weyward woman - their curse and their blessing is that they are far stronger than they appear, or that men can accept.
Thoughts
The writing in this book is truly as beautiful as the cover. It was so lush in its descriptions whilst still feeling fast-paced. I was instantly invested in all three POVs; each of the women have their own story to tell and, because their stories connect, you don't feel annoyed with the switching of POVs, it combines so well into one addictive read.
I did find the perspective and tense changes a bit strange to begin with. Altha is in first person past tense (present at the end), Violet is second person past, and Kate is second person present. This took a while to get used to, though I do think it was a clever way to separate the stories. Each POV did feel unique which, given the similar themes at play, could have read as more muddled if they had all been written in the same perspective and tense.
There are difficult topics featured here. Traumatic ones, really. I'm not sure how a man would feel reading this book because it's a very bleak representation. Even Violet, who has a deep love and connection with her brother, gets this unnecessary twist at the end that shows, despite her good relationship with Graham and his care and support of her, she has zero faith in men.
Personally, I could have done without that twist, as well as some of the punishments handed out to the men. Frederick gets the most long-lasting punishment but he wasn't written (to me) as the most villainous character. Violet's father, Grace's husband and Simon were all written as the worst of the worst with no redeemable moments. Frederick, on the other hand, after he inherits wealth and power tries to do the right thing by Violet and Graham - showing more compassion than their father. Even that Frederick didn't deserve to inherit, even that he deserved Violet's hatred and anger, I don't think his actions were as consistently evil as the other male characters who get quick ends or no punishments whatsoever. So I'm just not sure how to feel about the sense of justice the novel is trying to give to the evil done to these women. I also found it confusing that Simon would have been arrested for violence against Kate on the night when it sounded like his eye was gorged out?
But confusion of these moments aside, the experience of reading this novel was overall very immersive and emotional - and that was due to the beauty of the prose. Emilia Hart truly transported me and created special bonds between her characters that made reading feel like peering into a long line of family secrets. I'd be very excited to read any of her future works and really loved many aspects of this novel.
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