Published: 16/01/2025
From the author of My Best Friend's Exorcism and The Final Girl Support Group comes an addictively dark slice of Southern Gothic, as an inmate at a home for unwed mothers is tempted to make a deal with the devil.
A brand-new Southern Gothic horror from New York Times bestselling author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group.
'I did an evil thing to be put in here, and I’m going to have to do an evil thing to get out.'
Florida, 1970.
Fifteen-year-old Neva is taken to Wellwood House, a home for unwed mothers, to see out the final three months of her pregnancy. Her father turns tail without even a goodbye, leaving Neva to endure the isolated maternity home for one sweltering summer with the bugs, the boredom, the awful food, the shunned unwed girls just like her. There, she meets Rose, the righteous hippie; Holly, a fourteen-year-old who refuses to talk, and Zinnia, the cultured sceptic.
Miles from the nearest town and forced to abide by the home’s draconian rules, the girls are powerless, kept in the dark of what is to come. Only that their best option is to surrender their babies and move on as if this never happened
Then one day a travelling library arrives outside Wellwood House. And the librarian presses a book onto Neva, one that promises answers, power, even revenge. A book of witchcraft. But the book demands a sacrifice to work properly. A debt that must be paid. And, if she’s making deals with the devil, Neva must decide what price she is willing to pay.
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9781035030873
Number of pages: 496
Dimensions: 234 x 153 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
This book is so twisted and smart, it could hide behind a spiral staircase. It's got such a warm beating heart, and it broke mine several times. As soon as I finished, I wanted to start all over again - Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street and Nowhere Burning
There’s spells, there’s witches, and then there’s the magic Grady Hendrix conjures up in this amazing novel - Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of I Was a Teenage Slasher
A morally complex and genuinely haunting and moving tale. I couldn't put it down once I started - Paul Tremblay, bestselling author of The Cabin at the End of the World
Grady Hendrix’s Witchcraft for Wayward Girls will delight fans new and old with his convincing rendering of characters juggling pregnancy and magic, childhood and adulthood, helplessness and power – and of course good and evil. Another nail-biter not to be missed! - Tananarive Due, author of The Reformatory
This is Satan's School for Girls or The Initiation of Sarah . . . horror, social comment and wicked black humour - Kim Newman, author of Anno Dracula
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is terrifying, darkly funny, moving, immersive, and deeply relevant – a page-turner that will keep you up until one in the morning . . . Grady Hendrix is at the top of his game - Simone St. James, New York Times bestselling author of Murder Road
Grady Hendrix does it again, only better . . . Enchanting and entertaining - Alma Katsu, author of The Fervor
Full of hexes and heart, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is Hendrix's best novel yet! - Ronald Malfi, bestselling author of Come with Me
Captivating from the start, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls takes readers on an incredible journey exploring female victimization and empowerment . . . that may or may not entail tapping into the dark magic within. A phenomenal read for witches everywhere! - Carissa Orlando, author of The September House
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls asks how agency can be taken and what someone might do to keep it. Portentous and disquieting, it's a book that'll linger like a scar - Cassandra Khaw, author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth and The Salt Grows Heavy
As pacey as it is insightful, and an absolute page-turner into the bargain. I devoured it - Alison Littlewood, author of The Hidden People
Grady Hendrix’s Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is the most potent sort of magic – raw, fearless and powerful. I screamed, I sobbed, I devoured every word - Lindy Ryan, author of Bless Your Heart and Cold Snap
Grady Hendrix’s horror novels are a gateway drug to the genre - The New York Times
Grady Hendrix tap dances the line between horror and heart. It’s terrifying, darkly funny and empathetic with a left turn, a left hook when you’re least expecting it. I loved it - Lauren Beukes, author of The Shining Girls on How to Sell a Haunted House
Sizzles with action, originality and a gleaming concept sharp as a scalpel - Charlaine Harris, author of the bestselling The Southern Vampire Mysteries on The Final Girl Support Group
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