Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
by Grady Hendrix
Contents
Chapter 6
Overview
Fern is absorbed into Wellwood House’s strict schedule of labor, controlled meals, and moralizing lectures designed to turn pregnant girls into compliant “surrenders.” As Fern learns the other girls’ stories and grows alarmed by Holly’s condition, Diane brushes off Fern’s concerns and insists obedience and focus. The routine is disrupted only when Rose announces she plans to keep her baby, briefly reigniting the girls’ suppressed maternal hopes.
Summary
Fern settles into Wellwood House’s rigid, factorylike routine: early wake-ups, tightly timed meals, and long mornings of unpaid labor that offsets the girls’ room and board. Under Miriam’s gentle supervision and Hagar’s harsh discipline, the pregnant girls clean and sew relentlessly while Miss Wellwood frames the work as training for future marriages.
Food and weight are controlled as part of the Home’s program. Dr. Vincent’s warnings about inadequate diets hang over every meal, while restriction punishes girls who gain too much. With Mrs. Conradi away, afternoons fill with lectures on grooming, etiquette, and “figure control,” plus sessions from Diane Keller that emphasize surrendering babies as the only responsible choice, using stories like “Ivy” to frighten them away from keeping their children.
With little contact with the outside world and few distractions, the girls pass time with puzzles, cards, sewing, and gossip, and Fern begins to learn who everyone is and what cover stories their families tell. She also notices Holly’s neglect and isolation; after Holly bites Clementine during a failed attempt to help with her hair, Fern tries to brush Holly’s hair herself and nearly gets bitten too, realizing Holly may not be safe or well.
Fern asks Diane whether Holly should be seeing special help, but Diane dismisses the concern, saying a minister from Holly’s church is adopting Holly’s baby and insisting Fern focus on Fern. Later, during a quiet afternoon conversation, Rose shocks the room by declaring she will not surrender her baby and describes a life of independence with her daughter “Blossom,” a fantasy that briefly makes the other girls feel like mothers rather than inmates.
The chapter closes on Fern’s sense that the outside world has vanished while time grinds on inside Wellwood House. Exhausted by sleeplessness and pregnancy discomfort, Fern counts down the days until birth, adoption, and finally going home, as the schedule and small rituals reduce their lives to repetitive waiting.
Who Appears
- Fern (Neva “Fern”)Adjusts to Wellwood’s regimen, learns the girls’ lives, worries about Holly, and counts down days to birth.
- RoseDefiant resident who rejects the program and announces she will keep her baby, naming her “Blossom.”
- Diane KellerSocial worker who lectures for surrender, uses scare stories, and dismisses Fern’s concerns about Holly.
- HollyYoung, neglected girl labeled “defective”; bites when approached and is said to have her baby adopted by a minister.
- Miss WellwoodHead of the Home; enforces schedule, moral instruction, and domestic training as part of obedience.
- HagarHarsh kitchen worker who intimidates girls and provides grim stories and “expert” opinions about babies.
- MiriamHagar’s quieter sister who supervises cleaning with gentle corrections and minimal speech.
- Mrs. DeckleStaff member who controls wake-up bell, routines, and TV access, reinforcing the Home’s timing.
- BrionyRule-bound girl who sews wedding favors and argues with Rose about naming and surrendering babies.
- Clementine (Clem)Smokes while styling other girls’ hair; gets bitten by Holly while trying to help her.
- FloraFriendly girl who joins the others’ bored conversations and reacts to Rose’s plan to keep her baby.
- JasmineAstrology-obsessed girl who entertains others with pendulum baby-sex games and mystical theories.
- DaisyInnocent, puppy-obsessed girl who gets swept up in Rose’s farm fantasy and group talk.
- MyrtleTV-knowledgeable girl who disputes others’ baby myths and shares her bruised home situation.
- LaurelFormer secretary who teaches typing and gossips about staff discussions of Holly and her own PF.
- Dr. VincentClinic doctor whose diet warnings justify the Home’s strict meal rules and weight limits.