Weyward

三個女人，跨越500年的動人連結─

1615年，阿爾莎‧魏沃坐在牢房裡等待判決，她毫無證據地被指控謀殺一名農夫，只因為小時候，她的母親就教授她關於大自然中的花草、草藥等知識和神奇咒語，她也曾利用這些知識幫助當地身體有恙的居民，而在那個時代，女巫都被認為是邪惡危險的，當這件謀殺案對她冠上莫須有的罪名時，沒有一個人站出來為她說話，阿爾莎知道，自己必須頃全力才能活下去…

1942年，第二次世界大戰正如火如荼的進行，薇奧蕾‧艾芮斯被關在家族巨大但搖搖欲墜的宅邸中，受傳統社會禮俗拘束，聰明的她想獲得受教育的機會，總是偷聽哥哥葛拉罕上課，不然就是在外面的原野上研究昆蟲，她被當作家族裡面的異類，而父親一心只想趕快找個人把她嫁掉。唯一理解並關心她的只有葛拉罕，在她被父親責備後，葛拉罕將一隻豆娘放在玻璃罐裡送給薇奧蕾。

一天，她無意中發現，在房間地板的角落，有人用指甲留下刮痕，寫著“Weyward”這個字，薇奧蕾不禁好奇，這是否會跟她多年前發瘋去世的母親有關...

2019年，凱特終於鼓起勇氣，逃離長年對她拳腳相向的伴侶，躲到倫敦她姑姑留下的宅院─Weyward Cottage，一間在鄉間小有名氣、靜靜屹立、爬滿藤蔓的古宅。

儘管凱特完全不認識這位姑姑。但當她一推開這間宅邸的大門，踩在嘎吱作響的老舊木地板，時間彷彿於這個空間停止，她找到姑姑留下的書本、相冊和各種鳥的羽毛、石頭等收藏品，並在一間掛滿各種動物畫作的房間鏡子上找到一段神祕如咒語般的文字：無人修剪、恣意生長的不知名花園植物包覆著整棟房舍，彷彿有種神奇的力量在此駐留，凱特開始對這間宅邸和自己素未謀面的親戚感到好奇，追逤之下，一切的紀錄可回溯至17世紀，獵巫盛行的恐怖年代...

作者Emilia Hart的首部小說，結合真實歷史與想像，寫下女性百年以來遭受的壓抑與暴力威脅，但更多的是，如何掙脫束縛、以自己的方式打敗威權與重獲自由。

I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family’s grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart’s Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.