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.
Papaerback, 477 pages
Published January 14, 2025
by Berkley
3.5/5 stars
A couple years ago, I read Grady Hendrix's How to Sell a Haunted House, which was a quirky horror story and honestly I thought I was getting something like that with Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. I didn’t read the blurb or if I did I forgot about it by the time my pre-order arrived. I honestly did not realize that this was based on a home for unwed mothers, most of them being teenagers.
It is the 1970s when a 15 year-old girl arrives at the home, scared and alone. There she meets other girls her age, all in the same condition. Not just pregnant but without any control of their own lives. Along with being forced into giving their babies up for adoption. Things begin to change when a local librarian gives one of the girls a book on witchcraft and they decide to take the power given even though it comes with grave consequences.
The historical aspect of this book I found very interesting and heartbreaking, places like this existed and babies were taken away with neither the mom or the child knowing any of the history. The horror part of the story was more than I anticipated, it was descriptive and rather spooky, but I guess that is what horror is.
Ultimately Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a story of our friendship, coming of age and resilience. At times I found it was a bit longer than necessary and maybe a tad over descriptive in the delivery room. It was an eye-opener and entertaining read.
This book was part of my 2025 reading off my shelf challenge and is book #9
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