WILDWOOD WHISPERS by Willa Reece – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Wildwood Whispers by Willa Reece
Published by Redhook on August 17 2021
Genres: Adult, Magical realism
Pages: 390
Format: Finished hardcover
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A lushly written tale rooted in folklore and magic, Wildwood Whispers has a lovely, homespun vibe as comfy as a warm blanket.

I couldn’t resist this beautiful cover, and I’m happy to report that the cover is perfect for this magic-tinged tale. This is a quieter and more uplifting story than I normally read, but I have to admit it was a breath of fresh air. There is a lot of Alice Hoffman’s style in Wildwood Whispers, in the whimsical magical realism that Hoffman does so well, although the writing doesn’t quite have that sparkling quality that Hoffman’s has. Still, if you are looking for a heartwarming, folkloric story of sisterhood, set in a small town with plenty of quirky characters, you will probably enjoy this too.

Mel and Sarah grew up in the foster care system together, and Mel made it her duty to protect Sarah over the years. But one day when the girls are grown, Sarah is killed in a car accident. Sarah had always talked about her life growing up in Morgan’s Gap, Virginia, which she fled after her mother was murdered. And Mel promised Sarah that if anything ever happened to her, she would lay Sarah to rest in her beloved Wildwood, the forest where she spent so many happy years growing up. Now the unthinkable has happened, and Mel makes the trip to Morgan’s Gap with Sarah’s ashes in tow.

When she arrives, she meets some of the quirky townsfolk, including Granny, who takes Mel under her wing; Sadie, a beekeeper; Lu, a musician who makes dulcimers; and Jacob Walker, a mysterious and handsome biologist who seems to always turn up wherever Mel goes. Granny and the others introduce Mel to the Wildwood garden, full of blackberries and medicinal herbs and other rare plants, and Mel is given an old book to read, the Ross Remedy Book, which contains the knowledge of generations of Ross women. Little by little, Mel comes to feel that she belongs in Morgan’s Gap, and that she has some sort of connection to the Wildwood, although she doesn’t yet understand what that is.

As she becomes more and more entrenched in small town life, Mel explores the reasons she was brought to Morgan’s Gap. The Ross women “know” things, can cure ailments, can read tea leaves and predict the future, and seem to have an affinity with certain animals. Mel herself feels drawn to the garden behind the old Ross cabin in the woods, and she’s learning some of the recipes in the Book. But a threat hangs over the town, the threat of progress. Mayor Hartwell is determined to turn the Wildwood into a fracking site, threatening the natural resources that the town’s residents have come to depend on. Mel wants to learn the truth behind Sarah’s death, but could being too close to that truth put her in danger as well?

The story is told from Mel’s first person point of view for the most part, and I enjoyed joining her on her journey to becoming a wisewoman of Morgan’s Gap. Reece intersperses Mel’s chapters with flashbacks showing Sarah’s early years growing up near the Wildwood with her mother Melody Ross. These flashbacks are structured as dreams that Mel is having about Sarah’s life, which was a nice way for us to learn bits of the past, but also to reinforce the fact that Mel is somehow connected to Sarah and the people of Morgan’s Gap. Later in the story we get a third point of view from a mouse that has befriended Mel, which turns out to be another connection between the two girls. The mouse, who Mel names Charm, is one of the few magical elements in the story, and I really enjoyed these whimsical scenes.

I loved the message of female empowerment, although there are some male characters that are part of this as well. As one character says, “The Wildwood isn’t concerned with gender,” which I thought was a nice sentiment. But it’s mostly the women who drive the story, and I loved each of them for different reasons. They call themselves “wisewomen,” but the word “witch” is also thrown around a couple of times too. The women are connected to nature in some interesting ways, and they have a fierce sense of loyalty to each other and are always looking for ways to protect the most vulnerable among them. There is a horrid character named Reverend Moon who has a group of women under his control, called “Sect” women, who I’m assuming are abused in some way—probably raped and physically abused as well, although we don’t actually see any of that happening. Granny and the others have helped these women over the years, especially the ones who have the strength to run away from the Reverend. The wife of the Mayor (another awful male character) is a fragile woman named Violet who used to be part of Reverend Moon’s Sect, but the Reverend “gave” her to him and now she’s even worse off than she used to be. My heart ached for Violet, but I loved the way the other women rallied around her.

My very favorite parts of the story, however, were the descriptions of food and how the townsfolk came together to carry on their traditions of making and baking. Granny tells Mel that she should harvest the blackberries behind the cabin, and then Mel makes her own blackberry jam from a recipe in the Book. In another favorite scene, Mel decides to try a pickle recipe, and I can’t tell you how much it made me want to make my own pickles! Some of these scenes were told in lush, sensual language, in particular a scene with Mel and Jacob in the blackberry patch, that I could practically taste the blackberry juice and feel it dripping off my fingers.

I did have a few issues with the story, though. The first half is very slow, and it wasn’t until the midway point that I really became invested in the characters. I also didn’t care for the “bad guys,” the Reverend and the Mayor, who are so moustache-twirly and obvious that I almost laughed every time they made an appearance. The story would have worked better if their characters had been more subtly drawn, although I do admit there were some very unsettling scenes involving the Reverend that weren’t too bad. And if you’re hoping for intrigue and mystery, it’s there but it’s subtle. I knew immediately who was responsible for the deaths of both Sarah and her mother—it was telegraphed early on—and I also guessed Mel’s connection to the Wildwood, so it’s not hard to figure out either of these “mysteries.” There’s also a very slow burn romance between Mel and Jacob that felt a bit odd to me. I enjoyed the focus on the women’s relationships, and the story didn’t really need a romance on top of that.

But these small issues aside, I loved the story’s folksy vibe and the familial love the characters have for each other. This one really grew on me the more I read, and readers who are in the mood for a feel good story of female empowerment and subtle magic will enjoy this as well. 

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.