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Content snapshot
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Violence
Some
Horror violence in keeping with the genre; some threat to the young women
Language
Some
Adult language
Sexual Content
Barely any
No significant sexual content; the pregnancies are backstory
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The psychological weight of being confined for something that is not a crime; feminist horror that takes its characters seriously
What this book is about
Four young women at the Handmaidens of Light Home for Wayward Girls in 1970s South Carolina—sent there by families ashamed of unwanted pregnancies—discover that one of the sisters is teaching them actual witchcraft. Grady Hendrix's novel is simultaneously a dark comedy, a feminist horror story, and a genuine examination of what happened to women who did not fit their era's expectations. The witchcraft is real; so is the danger.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Horror violence
The historical confinement of women for pregnancy as the setting
Feminist themes that engage with real historical harm
Reader Verification
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