You might not know this, but in another life (my real one!), I run a book club, and I have gained a little bit of a reputation for being a very slow reader, meaning that sometimes I don’t finish books!
However, since I finished reading Ella Minnow Pea is the speedy time of just one-week, I’ve been making a conscious effort to try and finish some of the books didn’t have time to finish, and was sad about it, because I had genuinely been enjoying the books.
So, for the past week I have been reading Weyward by Emilia Hart, which we apparently started reading on April 8th 2024, so this has literally taken be 54 weeks to read!
We’ve read quite a few very feminist books as part of our book club, many of which have portrayed men as being awful, however I felt that Weyward is the only one we’ve read that has gotten it right.
Let me explain.
Right. So. Weyward. Bloody hell. This was one hell of a book!
This book is full of women who have had enough, and my gosh, do I get it! They’re tired of being treated bad by men, of control, of being told to be quiet, nice, small. This fits so perfectly into the feeling of so many women in 2025, and it is so frustrating that these attitudes towards men just haven’t changed very much since the 17th Century.
Weyward jumps between three women across three centuries, and they’re all tangled up in itchiness, trauma, and trying to claw back some sort of freedom. I’m not the biggest reader of “witchy” stuff, however, although the topic was of course about the women being witches, I feel that that was only a small part because it was just another way for women to be persecuted just for existing.
The main theme that runs through the book is survival; like “You can try to crush us, but we’ve got roots and sharp teeth, so we will beat you!”
The book isn’t perfect, and it did feel slow in places to the point it felt like a slog (that’s probably why it took me over a year to finish reading it). But when I did – eventually – finish, it felt incredibly satisfying.
The only part of the ending that I wasn’t a huge fan of was the Epilogue, which I felt went a touch too far to give Violet the “perfect” ending. I think I would have preferred her not having one, beyond knowing that she was well travelled and had a happy life of her own making, That would have been enough for me without the “twist” which – honestly – felt a bit silly if I’m being honest.
Would I recommend Weyward? Absolutely! Especially if you’ve ever screamed into a pillow or whispered “sod this shit!” and done things the way you wanted to, anyway.