Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

De: Grady Hendrix

Narrado por: Leslie Howard, Hillary Huber, Sara Morsey

"Superb ... a perfect horror for our imperfect age.” – The New York Times

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER

They were never girls, they were witches . . . .


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, to 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, frightened, 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 plans to 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 the 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).©2024 Grady Hendrix (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Hendrix’s genius as a horror writer is his ability to develop complex, human-scale emotional arcs...Never before has one of his books so aptly met the moment…at turns frightening, anxiety-producing, infuriating, beautiful and sad.”– The New York Times

“Fantastic … Hendrix is a wizard at mixing together tropes of terror in thought-provoking ways.”–Minnesota Star Tribune

"There's spells, there's witches, and then there's the magic Grady Hendrix conjures up in this amazing novel."–Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of I Was a Teenage Slasher

Good Grady, bad performance (sorry to the voice actor)

I really wanted to love all of the book, it kinda bums me out to have to say that I liked the story but the performance during births and rituals was so distracting and really took me out of the story. The wailing was just too much, maybe that was the point - but it was really unpleasant to listen to. I think I’ll but the physical copy and read myself.

A Different Kind of Horror

This is not at all what I was expecting. But as a woman, this is 100% horror. Excellent writing and unbeatable narration. To all my fellow women, you are heard.

awesome telling

the story was well crafted. the characters are fleshed out. the story consumes you. the telling is impeccable.

Grady Hendrix!

Sir! You have no right to play with my emotions like this! This book is so timely, and for me it just hit a nerve. I fell in love with these girls. The story is brutal, and beautiful, and thought provoking. Honestly, this is the best book I've read (or listened to) for a very long time. I don't know if you read these reviews, but if you do, thank you for this gift of a story.

Unexpectedly Powerful

I went into this thinking that it would be an academia book about girls discovering witch craft. I had no idea the power that this book would speak of. Heart wrenching, attention grabbing, and so beautifully narrated.

Another great listen

I like to listen to the books by Grady Hendrix. Usually, I like to read, but I think that any book by Grady Hendrix is better on Audible. This is definitely worth the money or credit.

wow

I’m honestly blown away. Utterly impressed. This book dives deep into the history of young girls being hidden away, shipped off, cut off and locked up just for getting pregnant. As if they did it to themselves. As if it doesn’t take two people to make a baby. The shame their families pushed onto them was heartbreaking. And that final letter? It wrecked me. I sobbed not just for her and everything she endured, but for every woman who’s ever had to give up a child she wanted to raise. For every girl treated like a criminal for carrying a child. And especially now, in a world where Roe v Wade has been overturned something my generation grew up believing would always be there. That grief hit hard. Yes, the witchcraft in this book is intense. The gore is raw, visceral, and at times truly horrifying and sickening. But this book is so much more than I expected. And the fact that it was written by a man? I’m honestly in awe. Not many male authors can capture the weight of a woman’s experience, but Grady Hendrix absolutely nails it. He might be one of the best at it. To any woman who has lived through what Fern, Rose, Zinnia, or Holly went through I am so, so sorry. And to every woman who might face that reality now, I love you.

Not what I expected

Didn’t expect such a wonderfully sad story from the cover. I loved it, left me with some tears at the end

Mixed feelings

Enjoyed the story and characters, but the narration felt a bit over the top at times and distracted me from what was happening. It also didn’t seem to match the darker tone that I believe the author was going for.

Read this last

This one is my absolute favorite thus far! Witches oh my!

Read in the following order, my bf exorcist , then the vampire book club and then the wayward girls. All three, just perfection.