Weyward

Finished May 2

Weyward by Emilia Hart

This book has three timelines. One is in 2019 when Kate flees her controlling boyfriend in London for a neglected cottage she inherited from her great aunt. One is in 1942, when her great-aunt Violet is placed into a difficult position by her family. And one is in 1619 when teenage Altha is put on trial for witchcraft. 

Altha was taught herbal medicine and healing by her mother, who has recently passed away. Other healers have warned them about the growing accusations of witchcraft and Altha's mother has taken care to hide some of the activities that would endanger them. Altha continues to heal those who come to her, and act as a midwife, but it is the request of an old friend that puts her into the situation that she has found herself in. 

Violet's mother died when she was a toddler, and she has only vague memories of her. Her father is strict and has her educated privately, but she longs for the boarding school education her younger brother receives and often borrows his textbooks. Violet is particularly drawn to nature and spends as much time outdoors as she can, although her father frowns on her behaviour. She is warned to be on her best behaviour when a previously unknown cousin comes to visit on a leave from the war. He seems nice and she agrees to spend time with him, but her innocence puts her into a dangerous situation. She must draw on her connection to nature and on hidden information from her mother to find a way forward. 

Kate has been with her boyfriend for a few years, and has gradually lost other connections in her life due to his controlling behaviour. Now he wants her to conform in another way, and she can see that her last chance to escape may be at hand. She takes that chance, running to the neglected cottage, and building a new life there, but she is always under the threat that he might find her again. 

These women's stories are of the way patriarchal society controls women by various means, and of these particular women who find a way to escape that control, even when it means losing something. I really enjoyed all three different stories and how each of them found an inner strength to use the skills they had to make their own way in life. All of them also had someone else in their life, either family or community that helped them in some way. 

A compelling read.