In 1959, an orphan girl slips out of a revival tent and runs away from the sect who controls and crushes her life, unexpectedly finding her way to a house in the woods that’s like something out of a fairytale. Sadly, she’s soon taken back, but in 1965, and grown up, she flees her abusive husband, a religious leader who may have killed his first wife, and finds her way back to the magical apple orchard and the wise women who live there. She soon starts to heal and finds belonging and purpose tending the apple trees, but she’s still hiding from her past. And the past that she hasn’t faced isn’t done with her.

Willa Reece also wrote Wildwood Whispers, which from what I could tell isn’t part of the same series or story world. This book is set in the Appalachian Mountains in the 60’s, with the backdrop of a small town and tent revivals, as well as a group of local witchy wise women. It has themes of domestic abuse and murder, and the trauma that comes with that, which may not be for every reader.

This book is a rich and magical story, full of fairytale details, with bonds of female friendship and community. You can almost smell the apple pies cooking in the oven, picked from the magical apple tree at the centre of this story. While it has some serious themes, over all I found this book very cozy. It’s a lovely story world to spend time in.

The book is structured from the point of view of Rachel, who we learn was born from an unwed mother and taken in by a strict religious group. When she grew up she was handpicked to be the wife of the church leader, and his control of her life was all encompassing. When she finds out she’s pregnant, she flees, with the apple tree and the memory of a warm house calling her back to a place to hide. When she’s there, we get some of the story from the perspective of other characters, and in flashback-like dream sequences, we learn about the woman who planted the original tree, which gives us some of the lore of the town. It’s a nice way of weaving the history of the connected families of the town together, and also giving us a bit of a b-plot mystery as to what happened in the past and how it might play out in the present. The two plots, past and present, in some ways intertwine and reflect each other. Rachel also has to spend a little time with each of the local wise women’s families in the Wildwood, learning a little something with each one and growing her knowledge and ability a little bit.

I don’t know much about Appalachia and the area, other than what I’ve read in other books, so I liked that this story embraced the small town life, the little market town and the forest. Everyone knowing everyone. I think sometimes these places are written as being kind of rough or less-than in some way, and I liked seeing it being celebrated instead.

I liked this book. I tend to be drawn to this kind of witchy themed read or magic realism, so I’m familiar with the tropes. This one in a lot of ways isn’t that original. The religion or the patriarchy is the enemy here, and sometimes heavy handedly so. We have the small town, the old families, the big rambling house, the witches hit the stock diversity types including one black and one queer, we have a love story with a local guy but our heroine may be too damaged to fall for him… But the author has created a fresh, lush world for us so that hitting those beats feels comforting, and not lazy.

Reading this made me want to seek out the authors other book. I liked spending time in this world and I liked her writing style. I didn’t love it as much as other classic witchy reads, like Alice Hoffman or Sarah Addison Allen, but it did feel cozy and magical. It made me want to get a slice of apple pie.

Read It If: you like magical forests, female friendships and a little witchery. This is a 60’s set fairytale that’s a cozy read.

Thank you to HBG Canada for the copy of this book for review.