Book Review: WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS by Grady Hendrix

WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS by Grady Hendrix (Berkley Books, January 2025) Hardcover, 482 pages. ISBN # 9780594548981 / 0593548981 

Synopsis on the Goodreads website . . . . .

Goodreads Choice Award  Winner for Readers' Favorite Horror (2025)

There’s power in a book…

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home 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. 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 knows she’s going to go home and 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 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).

My FIVE-STAR Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

As a high school student in the late 1960's, I was familiar with the secretive and protective homes for unwed mothers. I recall several female classmates who just withdrew from school for undisclosed reasons. An attempt was usually made back then to cover up for pregnant teens and if asked, mention an illness (mononucleosis) or moving away for various reasons (caring for an ill relative, etc). After the legality of abortion and changing attitudes brought on the end of these often badly managed homes I had completely forgotten about them. Credit to Hendrix for detailing a part of American History. 

I am a fan of Grady Hendrix and I will read whatever he decides to put out. There are certain things I can expect to find in a Hendrix novel:

1) The writing style. It may alter a bit from story to story but there is always a certain flow and ease to his writing that makes me comfortable reading it, often despite the situations. I can't quite put my finger on it. I just like the way he writes. 

2) Imagination. Hendrix often takes familiar tropes and puts an inventive spin on them that makes me think about them in a different way. I don't recall previously reading witchcraft spells like the ones in this novel. Hendrix also hints at a backdrop/story for witches that goes back centuries and is carried forward by a small inner circle. 

3) Characterization. A strong point of Hendrix. He's able to describe and demonstrate each character's uniqueness and defining traits without exposition or pause within the story, and has an ability to make readers see them and understand them as they are. Even the pregnant teenage girls in this novel seem authentic. 

4) Humor Often, the underlying humor makes some of the more horrific situations a little more palatable. 

Two things occurred during my reading of WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS that led me to elevate my rating to Five Stars. 

1) Hendrix actually wrote a novel that is nearly devoid of humor but still managed to engage me. There's nothing funny about the situations in this novel, and to his credit Hendrix does not diminish their impact with comedy. There is a dash of humor in some of the spells that the girls cast, but the humor is ironic in nature. There's really no "ha, ha" moments in this book. 

2) As I read this, I wondered how Hendrix could assume that he understood the female characters, specifically the pregnant teens, in this novel and depict the pain and anxiety of childbirth in such a believable fashion. How could anyone not personally experiencing the birth of their own child turn around and describe it and the emotions/pain/trauma the mother is going through? But, I was convinced he understood. 

This is, in my opinion, the most heartfelt and personal of Hendrix novels and a step forward for him. The author's notes in the afterword reveal how personal the situations were to him as well as how he carefully researched and sought advice. 

Of course this novel will not please everyone. Hendrix does have his detractors, although they should read this novel all the way through before deciding they don't care for his writing. 

i remain impressed. I won't go as far to brand this my favorite Hendrix novel, but I will say it is the most powerful and thought-provoking.