Weyward set in Cumbria – Emilia Hart

Submitted: 25th March 2023

BookTrail locations in Weyward

Boarding Pass Information: Cumbria

Author guide: Emilia Hart

Genre: historical. magical realism

Food and drink to accompany: nothing, it’s too meaty a story in itself

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BookTrail locations in Weyward

This is a stunning yet quite harrowing read based as it is on real life stories of women accused of witchcraft.

Now I thought I had read a lot of books about witches and witch trials. Turns out that this is very different and unique. It is ambitious and wide in scope visiting three women all who live in different decades.

Starting in 1619 we have Altha Weyward whose name provides the title. Then, in 1942 we have Violet and in 2019 Kate. Each of these women very different in age, background and time, but oh how their stories weave in and out of the years, across the decades and shouting from the same page of one horrific story.

These are the Weyward women and this quote captures it perfectly:

“I am trying to think of where the beginning is. Who decides where things begin and end? I do not know if time moves in a straight line, or a circle. Here, the years do not pass so much as loop back on themselves: winter becomes spring becomes summer becomes autumn becomes winter again. Sometimes I think that all of time is happening at once. So you could say that this story begins now, as I sit down to write it, or you could say that it began when the first Weyward woman was born, so many moons ago.”

BookTrail locations in Weyward

This is quite a novel. Hard to describe or catagorise which is apt as that’s what these women are. Putting women in to something restrictive and catagorising them is exactly what this book is about.

The storytelling from Emilia is magical whilst being dark and harrowing at the same time. Magical realism interweaves with dark historical fact and a series of singular voices shouting down the ages. Emila draws three characters so vividly and they are all so unique I felt I got to know them so well and shared their pain. Kate is the woman in the modern day story and through her we hear stories from Altha and Kate.

The setting of this book is Cumbria but it’s the story of women everywhere. Everywhere they were hunted down and accused of being witches. They describe hardships and the reality of society at that time, beliefs and their own circumstances. Honestly, go into this novel with not knowing much more than that. Let the women speak. They have quite the tale to tell.

This witches story was really refreshing as it was so focused on just the women and didn’t seek to look at the role of men in anyway. Nothing wrong with the novels that do, but this way felt more eerily powerful.

I felt their fear and conflicting emotions and despite the fact they were speaking from such different times, their stories sadly echoed each other. The name Weyward reveals a story in itself and by the end of the novel I was feeling very sad but satisfied and yet longing to stay with these women a little longer.

Judge this book by its cover. The stunning cover matches the fascinating tale within.