Grady Hendrix is an author who kind of snuck up on me and has become one of my favorite authors out there! I like that he’s not cranking out novels like clockwork like Riley Sager or Ruth Ware (not that I’m complaining about that). He’s seems to be busy, but a man of the people – his fans.
Anyway, after the disturbing How to Sell a Haunted House in 2023, I have been eagerly awaiting his next novel. To be fair, I knew it would be hard for him to top his last novel for me. He touched on two of my biggest fears. The first being to do with the eyes, though that was a much smaller part, but then the dolls. Though they weren’t necessarily ventriloquist dummies, they were as close as you could get. And they were EVIL. This is my biggest fear and every word he put to the page I could vividly picture. I still think about it every few weeks or so.
His newest novel, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls could not have been more different. The story focuses on fifteen year old Neva as she is being dropped off at a home for unwed mothers in the 70s. From the moment she steps in the door, her previous life is put on pause and she is to be known as Fern and is told to not reveal anything at all personal about herself. In this particular home, all of the girls have names related to gardening, which was kind of fun to see the variety. What was not fun, reading about all of the things that went down with these kids back then.
In reading the acknowledgements section after finishing the novel, Hendrix noted how he had a family member who went through a similar ordeal share her story, as well as doing a significant amount of research and having the appropriate people check his facts along the way. What a distressing thing. What’s even more sad is that not long after the events in this novel took place, the homes were basically all shut down. For the young girls who would have liked to have actually been mothers, this had to have come as a devastating blow. I cannot imagine the impact it’s had on their lives.
Though Fern doesn’t have too long of a time to spend in the home, the time she does spend there is a bit torturous at times. The girls are all put to manual labor to pay for their room and board and they are not allowed to be viewed by anyone outside the home. Since the home itself is in Florida and Fern is there in the dead of summer, it’s almost a miracle she or any of the girls can get through the day. Their injustices are too much, and one day, Fern and her roommates learn that their local librarian is a witch who promises to help make their wishes come true. She gives them a book and leaves them to it, but there’s always a price to pay for things like this.
I don’t want to spoil any more of the fun, but Hendrix was so good at describing both this world in the 70s and also that of the supernatural one the witches inhabit. Like all of his work, I hope this one someday finds itself a worthy adaptation. Oh yeah, did I mention I get to meet Hendrix in person?! He’s coming to Columbus and I will be there. The excitement is real. Stay tuned later this spring for an update on the event!