the lighthouse witches book review

Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke

Oct 31, 2021 | Book Reviews , Horror , mystery | 5 comments

Happy Halloween! Today is the perfect day to curl up with a spooky read (really, the entire month of October is) and I’ve got a stellar recommendation for getting you into the Halloween spirit. The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke landed on my doorstep towards the end of this month, so I squeezed it in so I could finish it by October 31, and I’m so glad I did, because it’s all about witches, PLUS its got a fantastic Halloween scene in it. And compared to some of the more violent horror novels I’ve read this month , this one isn’t gory, so it’s a more accessible story with wider appeal.

Plot Summary

Liv has moved her three girls, Luna, Clover and Saffy to an obscure little island in Scotland called Lon Haven. She’s an artist, and has taken a commission to paint a mural inside an isolated lighthouse that’s rumored to be built upon a cave where witches were tortured centuries ago. We jump between the past (when witches were being executed) to the present (when Liv is seeing visions of abandoned children in the lighthouse) to the future, (where Luna is a grown woman, pregnant with her first child and struggling to piece together the mystery of why her mother and two sisters disappeared on Lon Haven all those years ago). Knowing that 3 of the 4 main characters are going to mysteriously vanish plunges the entire story into a suspenseful race adding symbolic weight to every action or conversation during the ‘present’ day storyline. The plot becomes even more intricate when its suggested at various points that the superstitious beliefs of the people of Lon Haven are based on a horrific mistake, but then how to explain the strange appearances of children with numbers carved into their legs and no recollection of how they got there? Elements of folklore, superstition, and love that extends through generations all come together to create a both classic and modern tale of witchcraft that keeps the pages turning.

My Thoughts

Books about witches always tend to examine the strange occurrences of mass hysteria, as it was this belief that led to the majority of witch trials in history; an unfortunate, natural tragedy befalls a group of people, and without an understanding of why it happens, this same group looks for a scapegoat, typically someone who doesn’t conform to society’s expectations at that time anyway. What’s unique about this book is the characterization of a group of women in the ‘present day’ storyline who appear as though they may be type cast as the witches of their town, (they meet secretly by candlelight), but they actually whip up the unnecessary hysteria that’s typically used against witches. So who is the aggressor in this book? Throughout the story, characters and their intentions are called into question, and because we jump around in time we sometimes get the truth quicker than expected. A chapter may end on a cliffhanger, but Cooke doesn’t always pick up where she left off, instead we have to find the answers wherever we can get them, in whatever time period they may appear.

A mixture of literary horror and mystery, this book plants red herrings everywhere, in both the characters’ and s the readers’ path. Even by the very end I was uncertain if there was something supernatural at work, or just an evil earthly presence that had outsmarted everyone. About halfway through the story Liv accepts that her regular sense of right and wrong has taken a detour:

I’ll admit, I felt better once she’d done that, and yet I usually wouldn’t have given heed to such things. Fear, combined with a touch of desperation, makes you much more open to buying into otherwise crazy practices (p. 177).

When one of Liv’s daughters finds an ancient text in their little home beside the lighthouse, potential links to the present and future begin to form, but I had to constantly remind myself that hundreds of years divided these storylines, so my insistence on seeing patterns and connections wasn’t always possible. Despite all the uncertainty I experienced while reading, the end of the book was surprisingly uplifting, considering the muddle of problems previously worked through.

Lastly, the lighthouse setting was creepy, and if you’ve seen the movie The Lighthouse, you’ll know why I say that. Still, the history of the Lighthouse’s land in this book is spooky enough without having seen that film, and it grows in importance as the story continues, but not in the ways in which you originally might believe. I think my favourite part of this book was the author’s ability to keep me guessing, and the general atmosphere of unease she so cunningly crafts. This is my first book by C.J. Cooke, but it most certainly will not be my last!

Spread the Word!

Sounds good, and I see the author is Scottish! I’m in spook overload this year, but I’ll stick this one on my wishlist for next year… 🎃

I’ve never heard of a story about witches in connection with a lighthouse before!

It was very cleverly done

Hmmmm, I’m just not sure if this one’s for me? Do you think I’d enjoy it? I love lighthouses, but when it comes to stories about them, I’m often surprised to find that they’re not a match (with a few exceptions, including a Carol Bruneau novel I enjoyed this summer).

Well it’s hard to say – this book is quite commercial, if you know what I mean. Very plot driven, lots going on with the characters, chapters aren’t too long…

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Book Review | The Lighthouse Witches by CJ Cooke

Single mother Liv accepts a commission to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island in a bid for a fresh start. She brings her three daughters; Luna, Sapphire, and Clover, and meets the locals who warn her about the beliefs on the island. Witchcraft, wildlings and supernatural elements come to the fore when two of her daughters suddenly go missing.

Two decades later, Luna receives a call that her youngest sister, Clover, has been found. Except Clover is still seven years old and has no memories of what happened to her. Luna must return to the island to find the truth about what happened to her family.

It was a raw scene: a full moon hiding behind the purple cloud, ocean trashing against black cliffs. Gulls wheeling and shrieking above us. Trees stood like pitchforks, flayed by the wind. They hemmed the island, watching.

The Lighthouse Witches is a mythological mystery that blends wildlings folklore, the witch trials, missing family and the power of time. The story is presented in three timelines with different POVs, but the short chapters and clear headings made it easy to read. I expected a supernatural element but the book went on an interesting and unexpected journey that feels fresh.

The first timeline tells the story of Patrick Roberts in the 17th century when women were accused of being witches and prosecuted. I found his story heartbreaking and engrossing. While Patrick himself is a flawed character, I had an affinity for him. The second timeline takes place in 1998 and features Liv and her daughters moving to The Black Isle, Scotland. She was hired by a wealthy, mysterious man to paint strange mural symbols inside a lighthouse. She learns about the history of witches on the island and about wildlings – changelings that take children and switch them with one of their own. I didn’t warm up to Liv and I wished she could have handled things differently. But reading about her family dynamics was entertaining.

The third timeline takes place in 2021 and sees a now-adult Luna struggling to deal with her trauma after the fracture of her family. When her missing sister, Clover is found, Luna is surprised to see that she is still the same age as when she disappeared. This is my least favourite storyline because I thought it requires too much suspension of disbelief. For example, it’s highly unlikely that the authorities wouldn’t investigate the reappearance of a missing child. I also couldn’t connect with Luna, who seems to go with the flow and seems lacklustre for someone reuniting with her missing sister.

While the story does seem far-fetched at times, I was invested in the mystery and how the timelines intersect. The characters experience growth and reconciliation. The book looks into how fast time moves and how little time we actually have through the themes of family, love, sacrifice and injustice. How the wildlings folklore is revealed, too, is effectively moving. The ending feels slightly too neat but it works.

Overall, The Lighthouse Witches would be perfect for readers who love mysteries, family drama, and the history of witches.

CW: physical assault, child death

I received a copy from the publisher and Netgalley for review purposes.

About the author: CJ Cooke

Photo by Dan Mall

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Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches

High upon the cliffs of a remote Scottish island, Lon Haven, sits a lighthouse that has weathered storms for centuries.

Liv Stay has fled to the island with her three daughters – Sapphire, fifteen; Luna, nine; and seven-year-old Clover. A single mother, she’s been commissioned to paint a mural in the hundred-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island. It’s an opportunity to start over with her daughters . . . and escape truths she’d rather not face.

Lon Haven was meant to be a safe harbor. But soon strange things start to happen. They hear haunting noises in the dead of night, find animal skeletons left on Liv’s doorstep. Strangest of all, unknown children are discovered at the lighthouse . . . and then disappear without a trace.

When two of her daughters go missing, she’s frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings — supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. The dangerous wildlings must be killed.

Liv doesn’t know what to believe

But within months, Luna will be the only member of the family left.

Twenty-two years later, Luna is still haunted by questions about what took place on the island. What happened to her sisters? What happened to her mother? She has never stopped searching for them. When she receives a call about her youngest sister, Clover — the one she remembers — she’s initially ecstatic. But Luna comes face-to-face with a seven-year-old. The girl is the same age Clover was when she vanished all those years ago.

Luna worries that Clover is a wildling. And though she has few memories of her time on the island, she’ll have to return to the one place she swore she would never revisit in order to find the truth about what happened to her family.

She doesn’t realize just how much the truth will change her.

Author C.J. Cooke (also known as Carolyn Jess-Cooke) grew up in Ireland and began writing at the tender age of seven on her grandparents’ old typewriter. She went on to earn a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Queen’s University in Belfast, and enjoyed a career in academia, lecturing on Film Studies at the University of Sunderland. Before launching her career as a novelist, she published four academic works on Shakespearean films and movie sequels. Since publishing her debut novel, The Guardian Angel’s Journal , in 2011, she has won numerous awards. She now serves as a Reader in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, and researches how creative writing can help with trauma and mental health. She serves as the founder and director of the Stay-at-Home! Literary Festival, which is dedicated to providing people with accessible, inclusive, and eco-friendly ways to access literature. Her work remains focused on trauma, motherhood, loss, and social justice. Herself a mother to four children, she resides in Glasgow, Scotland.

The Lighthouse Witches is a blend of several genres: Gothic, paranormal, and mystery. At the outset, Cooke expertly sets the eerie, evocative scene: a decommissioned lighthouse called the Longing on the Scottish island of Lon Haven. It is “a white bolt locking earth, sky, and ocean together. . . . [L]ovely in its decrepitude, feathery paint gnawed off by north winds and rust-blazed window frames signatures of use and purpose.” It stands one hundred and forty-nine feet tall and offers breathtaking views from the lantern room accessed by climbing one hundred and thirty-eight steps. In a first-person narrative, Liv describes arriving on Lon Haven in 1998 and seeing it for the first time with a sense of haunting familiarity, even though she has never been there before. She has come to the island with her children in tow looking for a fresh start, on the run from an unpleasant truth she is too frightened to face head-on. She is well aware of “how stupid” her thought process is, but is unable to disavow herself of the ludicrous notion that if she just ignores the problem it will go away. They are to live in the rustic lighthouse keeper’s cottage while Liv paints a mural inside the lighthouse that has been commissioned by the owner, Patrick Roberts. He wants the mural to be “stunning and inspiring” and plans to turn the lighthouse into a writing studio.

Sapphire immediately finds a grimoire — an old book of spells — on the cottage’s bookshelf. Cooke inserts excerpts of “The Grimoire of Patrick Roberts,” which details the life of a local family who “lived our lives by magic” in 1662 and what ultimately happened to them. Liv and her children learn there were witch hunts not just in the United States, but also in Scotland and England. In fact, women believed to be witches were imprisoned in a dungeon underneath the lighthouse before being burned if they were found guilty of witchcraft. One of those witches cursed the island as she was dying, and a young child went missing there thirty years earlier. According to the boy’s sister, another child was found a year later who looked just like him, but bearing a telltale mark on his neck. Was he a wildling, sent to kill every member of his family until their bloodline was destroyed?

Life continues outrageously in whatever form it can. An unstoppable circularity, the past always in the present.

Sapphire’s first-person narrative expresses her dismay at being dragged from her school, friends, and boyfriend in New York to live in the “arse-end of nowhere.” She misses her stepfather, Sean, who died in a car accident, and daydreams about her biological father materializing. Liv and Sapphire have an unsurprisingly fraught relationship — at fifteen, the always headstrong girl has grown disrespectful and defiant. But Liv loves all her girls boundlessly and struggles to balance raising them as a single mother with accepting commissions for paintings and teaching art.

Yet another narrative is set in 2021 and focuses on Luna, who has only fragmented memories of the time she spent on Lon Haven. Her psychiatrist has explained that whatever happened to her all those years ago was so horrific that she dissociated, “effectively checking out of the horror,” her memories deeply buried in her mind. Liv abandoned her when she was just nine years old. “No explanation. No apparent motivation. Just dumped her in the woods and vanished into thin air.” Now she and her boyfriend, Ethan, are expecting their first child. She has vowed never to return to Lon Haven, but maintains Facebook pages devoted to her missing sisters, Sapphire and Clover, neither of whom have ever been accounted for since they went missing more than two decades ago.

But then Luna receives a life-changing call. Clover has been found! Since she was seven when she disappeared, she is twenty-nine years old now. But when Luna rushes to the hospital to meet the “wee girl” who has been found, she is disappointed. It’s not Clover at all. It’s a seven-year-old girl. But the girl bears an uncanny resemblance to Clover and asks why Sapphire is carrying the stuffed giraffe Clover adored. Sapphire kept it in the intervening years. The girl has knowledge of other matters, as well, that only Clover could possess.

Cooke weaves a tale of increasing angst in 1998. The creepy lighthouse has been vandalized with horrific symbols, but as Liv prepares to bring the mural to life, she makes other unsettling discoveries. She meets Patrick Roberts, the “island’s mystery millionaire,” who turns out to be much younger and more eccentric than anticipated. And disturbing details come to light about how he came to own the lighthouse.

Meanwhile, in 2021, Luna struggles with the prospect of marrying Ethan and takes custody of Clover, who insists that she just left the cottage on Lon Haven the night before she was found. She was discovered wandering on the side of the road, claiming that she’d gone looking for Luna. And she has an inexplicable mark on her hip.

Cooke deftly alternates the narratives into a cohesive tale of witchcraft, curses, time travel, and legends that mystify and frighten her characters and mesmerize readers. Liv is an empathetic character — a single mother doing her best to care for her children and earn a living after experiencing trauma. She is frightened and in denial about what the future might hold for her and her daughters. Sapphire is a typically inquisitive, willful teenager trying to assert her independence, while Luna is a young woman who survived early traumatization but has found a man who loves her and is attempting to lead as normal a life as possible when it is upended by the reappearance of Clover. But it can’t really be Clover. So Luna has to return to Lon Haven to face her own demons and determine who Clover really is.

As the narratives meld cohesively, Cooke gradually reveals the details of her uniquely inventive plot as she gradually accelerates the story’s pace and ramps up the dramatic tension. She assembles a world in which wildlings (also known as fae or fairies), witches, and magic exist, and reveals the true motives of Patrick Roberts. She also explains precisely what happened to Liv and Sapphire, as well as Clover’s true identity, and provides a conclusion that is surprisingly emotional yet fitting and, ultimately, uplifting and hopeful. In the process, she relates a tale that is engrossing and entertaining. With her richly descriptive prose and thoughtful examination of parent-child relationships, lost love, and the power of fear, she might make believers even of readers for whom the genre is outside their comfort zone.

Excerpt from The Lighthouse Witches

Lon Haven The Black Isle, Scotland

The lighthouse was called the Longing. Pitched amidst tessellations of rock black as coal, thrashed for over a hundred years by disconsolate squalls, it needled upward, spine-straight, a white bolt locking earth, sky, and ocean together. It was lovely in its decrepitude, feathery paint gnawed off by north winds and rust-blazed window frames signatures of use and purpose. I always thought lighthouses were beautiful symbols, but this one was more than that-it was hauntingly familiar.

Night was drawing in and we hadn’t yet met the owner. We’d driven hundreds of miles over mountains, through sleepy villages and winding roads, usually behind herds of cattle. We had taken a ferry, and got lost four times, on account of using an outdated, coffee-stained A-Z road map with several pages missing.

I parked up behind an old Range Rover. “We’re here,” I told the girls, who had fallen asleep against one another in the back. I wrapped my raincoat around Clover-she was wearing only a swimsuit over a pair of jeans-and lifted her up to walk a little way along the rocky beach daubed with spiky patches of marram and tough white flowers.

The four of us scanned the bay. It was a raw scene: a full moon hiding behind purple cloud, ocean thrashing against black cliffs. Gulls wheeling and shrieking above us. Trees stood like pitchforks, flayed by the wind. They hemmed the island, watching.

The lighthouse keeper’s bothy was a squat stone dwelling built close to the lighthouse. Smoke plumed from the chimney, pressing the earthy smell of peat into our noses. A woman stepped out to greet us. “Olivia?” she said.

“Hi,” I said. “Sorry I’m earlier than expected . . .”

“No trouble at all. Come on in out of the cold.”

We found ourselves in a cramped hallway, where someone had pinned a shark’s jawbone to the inner wall. Luna reached out to touch one of the teeth and I tugged her back.

Saffy nodded at it. “Is that from a great white?”

“Porbeagle shark,” the woman-Isla-said with a tilt of her chin. “We don’t get great whites. Porbeagles are just as big, mind, and every bit as dangerous.”

“I don’t like sharks, Mummy,” Clover whispered.

“We have a basking shark that tends to hang around the bay,” Isla said. She glanced down at Luna, who threw me a panicked look. “You’ll be fine with a basking shark. No teeth, you see. Basil, he’s called.”

“Is this where we’ll be staying?” Saffy asked warily, eyeing the shark jaw.

“It is indeed,” Isla said. She turned to the girls. “I’m Isla Kissick, and it’s absolutely thrilling to meet all of you. But I’m afraid I only know your mummy’s name. Why don’t you tell me your names?”

“I’m Luna,” Luna said. “I’m nine.”

“Luna,” Isla said. “What a lovely name.”

“It means ‘moon,'” Luna said, a little shy.

“Mine’s Clover,” Clover said, elbowing Luna out of the way. “I’m seven and a half and my name means clover, like the plant.”

“Also a lovely name,” Isla said. “And I bet you already know that clovers are meant to bring good luck?”

Clover nodded. “Mm-hmm. But my mummy said you make your own luck.”

“Very wise,” Isla said, glancing at me approvingly. She turned to Saffy, who flushed red.

“And who might this lovely one be?” Isla said.

“Sapphire,” Saffy mumbled to the floor. “I’m fifteen.”

“Well now, that’s lovely,” Isla said. “My daughter, Rowan, is fifteen. I’m sure you’ll meet soon enough. Now, come and sit down. I’ve made you all some supper.”

I nodded at the girls to leave their bin bags in the hall before following Isla to a kitchen at the back, where the smell of freshly baked bread and tomato soup made my mouth water.

I’d supposed that Isla was Mr. Roberts’ partner, but she turned out to be his housekeeper. She was short and lithe with long copper hair neatly pinned up, and her quick, round eyes searched all of us up and down. She had a beautiful Scottish brogue and spoke fast, as though the words were too hot to hold in her mouth for long. She was smartly turned out-a crisp white shirt, gray check trousers, polished ankle boots. The bothy was incongruously old-fashioned. I would learn that Lon Haven, its inhabitants included, was full of skewed time spheres. The absence of modern retail chains and its breathtakingly rugged landscapes made the place feel like you’d stepped back in time, perhaps to the very beginnings of the earth. The lighthouse itself was built upon an ancient Scottish broch that was built upon a Neolithic fort, which in turn was built upon late Jurassic rock, like an architectural babushka doll.

“There you go,” Isla said, placing bowls of steaming hot soup before each of us. I apologized again for the mix-up about our arrival. I’d planned to begin the commission a few weeks from now but decided to head north on the spur of the moment. Or the middle of the night, to be exact. We’d driven the whole way from York to Cromarty, only to find that the ferry was canceled for the day on account of high winds. The girls and I had to endure a very cold and uncomfortable night at a rest stop, sleeping in the car.

“It’s no trouble,” Isla said. “Mr. Roberts is away, of course, but I’m to take care of everything until he returns.”

“Are we sleeping in the car again?” Clover said, wiping her mouth on the back of her sleeve.

“In the car?” Isla repeated, looking to me for explanation.

“I’m sure there are plenty of beds for all of us,” I said quickly, and this time I was the one to look to Isla for confirmation. I didn’t want to mention that we’d had to sleep rough.

“Of course there are,” she said. “Shall I give you the grand tour?”

The bothy was small but efficiently organized. A door at the rear of the kitchen led to a scullery with a washing machine and loo. Three bedrooms provided ample sleeping space with freshly made-up beds, and there was a bathroom with a shower cubicle.

We followed Isla to the living room at the front of the house, overlooking the garden.

“Now, you’ll have noticed it’s a bit chilly on the island. So you’re not to worry if you need to turn the heater on.” She nodded at the wood-burning stove. “You’ll find a shed at the side of the bothy stocked with wood. And I’ve put plenty of blankets in the cupboards for you to get cozy in the evenings. Which reminds me. Sometimes the electricity goes off. Nothing to worry about. You know how to manage an oil lantern?”

I followed her gaze to an old-fashioned oil lamp in the windowsill, which I’d assumed was for decoration. I caught Isla rolling her eyes as it became clear that no, I didn’t know how to manage an oil lantern.

“I’ll be sure to leave instructions,” she said with a tight smile.

“Does Mr. Roberts live here?” Saffy asked.

“This is one of his properties,” Isla said. “But no, he doesn’t live here. His main residence is north of here, twenty minutes or so by car.”

“Will you tell him I’ve arrived?” I asked.

“Well, I’d love to,” Isla said brusquely, “but he’s at sea just now.”

“At sea?”

“Aye, for all he has a half dozen houses dotted about the place, he prefers to be out on his boat.”

“I have a boat,” Clover offered.

Isla lifted an eyebrow. “Do ye, now?”

“It’s green with a purple chimney and I play with it in the bath.”

“Well, Mr. Roberts’ boat is a wee bit bigger than that, I’d wager,” Isla said, chuckling. “He tends to sail to Shetland at this time of year.”

“He’s a pirate, then?” Clover said, astonished.

Isla bent down to Clover’s eye level. “No. But I reckon he’d be a good ‘un.”

“Do you come from Shetland?” Clover asked, running her fingertips along the stubbly wood-chip wallpaper. Wood chip was her favorite texture.

“No,” Isla said. “I come from Lon Haven. Where d’you come from?”

“My mummy’s vagina,” Clover said.

I watched Isla’s face drop. “Girls, go have a look at your bedrooms,” I said, ushering Clover quickly away. “Do you know when I’m to discuss the commission with Mr. Roberts?”

“He said to give you this.” Isla reached into her trouser pocket and pulled out a piece of folded paper. I opened it up to find an elaborate and highly abstract sketch, a diagram of sorts. Lots of lines and arrows and circles, like a zodiac.

“What is it?” I said, turning the page to the side. There was no indication which way the sketch was meant to be viewed.

“It’s the mural,” Isla said flatly. “The thing you’re painting inside the Longing.”

I stared at her, wondering if I’d misheard. “This? This is the mural?”

She cocked her head. “Is something the matter?”

“No, no . . .” I said, though I didn’t sound convincing, not even to my own ears. “I suppose I thought there might be more to it than this. Written instructions, perhaps.”

“That’s all Mr. Roberts has given me. He said I’m to fetch whatever equipment you need to do the job. So perhaps you can write me a list of whatever you require and I’ll get onto it in the morning.”

Still dumbfounded by the sketch, I said I would, but that I’d need to see inside the Longing first.

“Ah, now that would be an idea,” she said, straightening a lampshade. “How about I show you just now?”

Outside, harsh winds buffeted us on the rocks, and I saw movement on the far reaches of the island. Seals, Isla told us. I was astonished at how close they were to the bothy, but she told me they were shy creatures, despite their size. They’d not bother us. I watched them slip off the stones into the black water, their shape in the dark almost human.

The lighthouse stood twenty feet away from the bothy toward the far end of the island. We all pushed against the wind toward the heavy metal door at the base. I could make out an object wrapped around the handle. A tree branch. I made to pull it off, thinking it had been blown on there by the wind and become stuck. Isla stopped me.

“Rowan wood,” she said. “It’s for protection.”

I had no idea what she meant, but I stepped back as she tried to leverage the door open. Finally, it shifted. I lifted Clover onto my hip and held Luna’s hand tight as we followed Isla inside.

“Bloody hell,” Saffy said, looking around. “This place is rank.”

I shushed her, but couldn’t help agreeing internally.

I’d never been inside a lighthouse before. I’d expected floor levels, an enclosed staircase. The Longing, however, was a grim, granite cone. A rickety staircase was pinned loosely against the wall, spiraling Hitchcock-style to the lantern room at the very top. The place reeked of damp and rotting fish. I wondered why we were standing in an inch of black liquid, until Isla explained that one of the lower windows was broken, and over time seawater had poured inside and pooled on the floor.

“I gather you’ll need something to pump it out before you start,” she said.

“Mr. Roberts is turning it into a writing studio, is that right?” I asked, and Isla nodded.

“He’s not published,” she added. “Just a hobby. I wouldn’t be expecting him to produce The Iliad or anything like that. He bought it last year and didn’t seem to know what to do with it. Next thing I know, he’s asking me about getting a painter in to prettify it, make it into a writing studio.” She gave a shrill laugh. “Whoever heard of such a thing? Surely all you need to write is a pen and paper.”

“Maybe the views will inspire him,” I offered.

“Aye. Inspire him to go off sailing, more like.”

We were shrouded in darkness. Clover was clutching on to her toy giraffe, whimpering to go home. Bats flitted overhead. Moonlight trickled in from the small upper windows, revealing the height of the place.

“It’s a hundred and forty-nine feet tall,” Isla said, swinging her torchlight to the very top. “A hundred and thirty-eight steps to the lantern room. Braw views up there. I can show you when it’s light.” Her torchlight rested on patches of paint that had crumbled off, revealing raw stone. About halfway up someone had graffitied a section of the wall in garish shades of lime green and black.

“There was a break-in,” Isla said darkly. “Outsiders, you see. We get them here a lot more now, since the rental properties on the east side opened up. And the Neolithic museum, that’s new. You should take your girls.”

Isla reassured us that break-ins like this were rare, that tourists-or “outsiders”-didn’t frequent the place often. Lon Haven’s population was predominantly grassroots, with sixty or so archaeologists from “the University” working at the Neolithic sites. Some of the younger population had inherited crofts that they didn’t want to live in, so they’d started renting them out. The older population objected strongly both to the younger islanders moving away (“All of them want to live in Edinburgh or London,” Isla recalled with a sneer) and, as a result, drawing “outsiders” to the island to rent out the crofts.

Break-in aside, I was intrigued by the Longing. As an artist, two of my favorite things were shadows and curved angles, and this place had both in spades. The shadows seemed alive, like the wings of a giant bird stirred by our presence. It was creepy, yes, but also elegant-I loved how the staircase whirled upward in increasingly narrower circles within the cylinder of the structure, how the lack of right angles gave every small edge extra significance, how the architecture drew my gaze upward.

“Has the lighthouse ever been submerged?” I asked. I could hear wind pummeling the stone walls, the loud suck and slap of the waves close by.

“We get our fair share of storms,” Isla said, and I could tell she was choosing her words carefully so as not to put me off. “But the Longing has been standing for a hundred years amidst all that Mother Nature and the sea gods have to throw at her, and I daresay she’ll stand a hundred more.” A pause. “So long as you keep rowan on the door, you’ll be fine.”

It was as she said this that I felt a wave of deja vu pass over me. Saffy, Luna, and Isla were beginning to head toward the door to leave, but the feeling of familiarity was so strong that I paused, as though someone had spoken and I was trying to understand what they’d said.

Excerpted from The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke. Copyright © 2021 by C.J. Cooke. Excerpted by permission of Berkley Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Also by c.j. cooke:.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one electronic copy of The Lighthouse Witches free of charge from the author via Net Galley . I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own. This disclosure complies with 16 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

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A book blog for speculative fiction, graphic novels… and more, book review: the lighthouse witches by c.j. cooke.

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Berkley(October 5, 2021)

Length: 368 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

After The Nesting last year, I just knew I had to get my hands on more of C.J. Cooke’s work. So, when the synopsis of The Lighthouse Witches promised more of that same Gothic suspense and atmospheric goodness, I was quite anxious to dive right in.

Our story begins in 1998, as artist Olivia Stay arrives on Scottish isle Lòn Haven along with her three daughters Sapphire, Luna, and Clover. Commissioned to paint a mural inside an ancient lighthouse supposedly built on the ruins of prison for witches, Olivia knows very little about the client who hired her or why he wanted the work done, but she’s desperate for work and also looking to start fresh in a new place.

Her teenager Sapphire, however, is quite unhappy about having been uprooted from their old home and is taking her anger out on her mother and sisters. Exploring on her own, she comes across an old tome left near the lighthouse filled with accounts of the witch burnings that happened on the island back in in the 1600s. The residents of the village, friendly as they are, also seem to be deeply superstitious, believing in the old stories about changelings, and it doesn’t help that for such a small place, Lòn Haven has a long and disturbing history of children randomly disappearing.

And then the unthinkable happens. Two of Olivia’s daughters go missing, setting her off on a panicked search. But in the end, only one girl is found. Fast forward twenty-three years later to the present day, we follow Luna, now a grown woman expecting her first child. Her life is a bit of a mess, having been estranged from her mother Olivia and now having relationship troubles with her boyfriend, which is putting even more stress on her already high-risk pregnancy. Through it all though, Luna has never given up searching for her lost sisters, and then one day, she unexpectedly receives news from the police that Clover has been found. Excited to be reunited with her sister, who should be around thirty years old by now, Luna is shocked to arrive at the station to find a little girl.

At first, her heart sinks knowing this can’t be Clover, but at the same time, the child looks exactly like her seven-year-old sister who went missing back in 1998. Not only that, she also sounds exactly like her, knows all the things that only Clover would know. It shouldn’t be possible, but the more time Luna spends with the girl, the more she is convinced that she is her sister. But how to explain the fact that she hasn’t aged a day since they last saw each other?

Basically, there are narratives from three timelines that make up The Lighthouse Witches —the one in 1998 told from Olivia and Sapphire’s POVs, the one in 2021 from Luna’s POV, and the last one told through diary entries from the old book, which I won’t comment on any further in case of spoilers. As you can imagine, all that jumping around can get a little dicey, and I won’t lie, there were definitely moments where things got confusing. Still, for the most part, I thought the author handled the POV switches very well, alternating and contrasting the timelines in a way that delivered the most tension and impact.

That said, it does take a while for the three arcs to build and weave together some semblance of a conflict, so patience is required until the main plot can get off the ground. Once you hit a certain point though, the mystery reaches a climax, and the rest of the novel unfolds at a breathless pace. I would say if you enjoyed The Nesting , then there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy The Lighthouse Witches too, and in fact, in certain respects, I liked this one better. Both books begin with a single woman relocating to a remote place to start a new job, and both also involve creepy children. Then there’s the paranormal element, which is even more pronounced in this novel, and that’s great news if that’s your jam. This time, I also wasn’t as hung up on certain questionable explanations or leaps of logic, because the presence of the otherworldly and uncanny gave the plot a lot more leeway.

As with most novels that can be described as moody, twisty, slow-burn Gothic suspense, The Lighthouse Witches probably won’t be for everyone, but if you happen to be on the lookout for that kind of story and won’t mind a somewhat indeterminate supernatural angle, then this book is for you.

17 Comments on “Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke”

I love the sound of this one and need to pick up my copy soon. This review is definitely encouraging. The Nesting was a book where, I didn’t quite love the story but the writing was excellent and the atmosphere was so moody and dark that I definitely wanted more by this author. Lynn 😀

I 100% agree with your assessment of The Nesting! I liked this one more because the story was better, but with the same high quality of writing and moody atmosphere!

I guess you had me at “haunted lighthouse on a Scottish island”… 😉 Thanks for sharing!

I’m so glad that piqued your interest!

Like Liked by 1 person

I don’t know if I would have had your patience for the ARCs to get togather honestly!

I have plenty of patience, I just need more time, lol 😀

I’m finding that when done well I really enjoy some of these stories that start out slowly and take time to weave everything together, but then almost without you noticing they begin to pick up the pace and you just can’t stop reading. And sometimes the chapters get shorter leaving you with even more desire to keep reading, just another chapter, just one more before stopping for the night… 🙂

I love books like that 😀

This sounds so good! I’m very sad I couldn’t fit it into my schedule…

I understand! I’ve had to let so many interesting books go because I couldn’t fit them into my schedule 😛

Witches and then a lighthouse… hmm. That pretty much has me there. I’ve come to like dual timeline tales too a little bit over the last few years, although you’re right- they can be dicey to pull off. This sounds pretty good.

I do really love the history the author has built around this lighthouse, makes the book so much more atmospheric!

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The Lighthouse Witches By C. J. Cooke (Review by Stacie Kitchen)

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐ The Lighthouse Witches is a good part spooky mystery, historical fiction, and fantasy. When Liv gets a commission to paint a mural in a lighthouse in Scotland, she whisks her three daughters away to the middle to the remote island. Situated on a Neolithic site, the island is full of spooky history, and everyone the family meets are a little bit suspicious. Liv, Saffy, Luna, and Clover try to make a home for themselves in a dilapidated bothy and they start to uncover some of the island’s past.

Through their neighbors, friends, and a grimoire book found in the bothy, the family learns that their island has been cursed by witches. The witches were jailed in a hole within the lighthouse and put a curse on the families of the island before they were burned to death. This curse creates wildlings (children identical to their own children but with burn marks) who integrate into their families only to kill off the whole family line. Is there a way to stop the wildlings?

The Lighthouse Witches also gives a present-day account of Luna. Pregnant and over 20 years older, Luna is the only member of the family left. Saffy, Clover, and Liv all disappeared while on the island without a trace. Suddenly Luna gets a call that the police have found Clover… only this Clover is still only 7 years old.

One thing I really enjoyed about this novel is the ability of C. J. Cooke to go back and forth from multiple time periods, while also incorporating an additional time in the form of a grimoire being read by Saffy. It had very smooth transitions and I loved the level of mystery created by the multiple timelines. The characters had a great sense of depth and relatability. I highly recommend as I had a great time reading this novel and trying to uncover the mysteries!

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The Lighthouse Witches By C.J. Cooke : Review

Two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found–but she’s still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting . When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it’s an opportunity to start over with her three daughters–Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she’s frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. Liv is told wildlings are dangerous and must be killed. Twenty-two years later, Luna has been searching for her missing sisters and mother. When she receives a call about her youngest sister, Clover, she’s initially ecstatic. Clover is the sister she remembers–except she’s still seven years old, the age she was when she vanished. Luna is worried Clover is a wildling. Luna has few memories of her time on the island, but she’ll have to return to find the truth of what happened to her family. But she doesn’t realize just how much the truth will change her.

I was honestly a little bit hesitant to read this book when I was offered the chance to do so. I’d never read anything by the author before and it was more than a little outside my normal reading wheelhouse, but it sounded so good and had such a great cover that I was unable to pass it up and I’m glad that I didn’t. The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke was an intense and satisfying read that kept me flipping through pages all night long. Since I had never read anything by C.J. Cook I wasn’t completely sure what I was getting into with this book so I made the mistake of trying to read a few chapters before bed only to be interrupted by my 5 AM alarm clock telling me it was time to get ready for work.

There were a lot of things I loved about The Lighthouse Witches but what really impressed me was how the story was told across three different points of view with each one being set at a different point in time. I thought the author did an amazing job taking all three points of view and timelines and somehow managing to weave them all into an intense and fascinating story. Usually, I find that in books like this I’m more heavily invested in one particular point of view or timeline and miss things in the others as I rush through them to get to the character I really want to read about, but this book had me equally invested in all three. Something that usually only happens with authors like Brandon Sanderson or Robert Jordan.

While I would love nothing more to go on and on about the different story or character elements that I loved in this book, I don’t want to spoil things because I think that it’s always better to go in kind of blind with no set expectations. So all I will really say about The lighthouse Witches is that it was a fun read with an interesting plot and was full of characters whose storylines I was almost immediately invested in. I think anyone who picks up this book will enjoy it like I did, even if it’s not in their usual genre.

I will be recommending this book to a lot of people over the next few months I’m sure and I’ve already bought C.J. Cooke’s The Nesting and I can’t wait to get started on reading that!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J Cooke

I am so excited to share my review for The Lighthouse Witches by C.J Cooke on the run up to Halloween. I adore books seeped in the history of witches and this book promised just that and with a dark, menacing but beautiful cover, I just had to read. Scroll down to see if it met my expectations.

Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J Cooke

Title: The Lighthouse Witches

Author: C.J Cooke

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre: witchlit, supernatural, gothic

Release Date: 30th September 2021

The brand-new chilling gothic thriller from the bestselling author . . .

Coincidence? Or curse? Liv Stay flees to the island with her three daughters, in search of a home. She doesn’t believe in witches, or dark omens, or hauntings. But within months, her daughter Luna will be the only one of them left. Twenty years later, Luna is drawn back to the place her family vanished. As the last sister left, it’s up to her to find out the truth . . .

But what really happened at the lighthouse all those years ago?

My Thoughts

The Lighthouse Witches is a deliciously dark tale based on an isolated island in Scotland which automatically adds to the gothic atmosphere. The descriptions of the lighthouse’s interior gave it an ideal setting for an unnerving, fear based reading experience. Told by several narrators including an ancient grimoire it follows Luna who has to return to the island to discover what happened in 1998 when her mother and sisters disappeared but she is not as welcome to the close-knit community as she expected adding to the mystery and tension. With links to the 17 th century Scottish witch trails, it grabbed my attention and did not release me until the end, but even then I keep finding myself lured back into thinking about it.

Midway I questioned how dark it was going to go and whether I needed to grab a cushion to hide behind, but it made me use my imagination for the darker moments which may have made things worse. The tension grew towards an unexpected and satisfying conclusion.

Would I recommend?

Yes. With strong female characters, many twists and turns and unique location this is one of my favourite books of the year and a perfect Halloween read.

As a page turner and with strong witch connections, this is a firm favourite on The Enchanted Emporium bookshelf and loved by both Willow and Amber.

Author Biography

C.J. Cooke is an acclaimed, award-winning poet, novelist and academic with numerous other publications written under the name of Carolyn Jess-Cooke. Her work has been published in twentythree languages to date. Born in Belfast, C.J. has a PhD in Literature from Queen’s University, Belfast, and is currently Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she researches creative writing interventions for mental health. C.J. Cooke lives in Glasgow with her husband and four children. She also founded the Stay-At-Home Festival.

Thank you Random Thing Tours for inviting me to this tour and providing an advanced copy for me to review and give my honest and unbiased opinion.

Published by kakenzieblog

Author of A Blend of Magic, tea addict and book hoarder who reviews books to share my love of books. Creator of the Enchanted Emporium and its resident witches and ghosts. View all posts by kakenzieblog

2 thoughts on “Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J Cooke”

I love the sound of this story!

You’ll love it

The Lighthouse Witches by C J Cooke | Book Review | #TheLighthouseWitches

ABOUT THE BOOK

Upon the cliffs of a remote Scottish island, Lòn Haven, stands a lighthouse. A lighthouse that has weathered more than storms. Mysterious and terrible events have happened on this island. It started with a witch hunt. Now, centuries later, islanders are vanishing without explanation. Coincidence? Or curse? Liv Stay flees to the island with her three daughters, in search of a home. She doesn’t believe in witches, or dark omens, or hauntings. But within months, her daughter Luna will be the only one of them left. Twenty years later, Luna is drawn back to the place her family vanished. As the last sister left, it’s up to her to find out the truth . . . But what really happened at the lighthouse all those years ago?

Publisher: Harper Collins Format: Ebook, Audio, Hardback (30 September 2021) | Paperback (15 September 2022) Pages: 432 Source: Copy received for review

MY THOUGHTS

I’m always attracted to stories of witchcraft and folklore and couldn’t resist saying yes please to reviewing The Lighthouse Witches when the email tour invitation arrived. My thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the place on the tour and to the publisher for the beautiful hardback copy to review.

Set over two timelines and told from three perspectives – mother Liv and eldest daughter Sapphire in 1998 and middle daughter Luna in 2021, The Lighthouse Witches is a haunting and atmospheric story set on a remote Scottish island, Lòn Haven. Liv is an artist and has been engaged by the reclusive current owner to paint a mural on the inside of the Island’s lighthouse ‘The Longing’ – she is also fleeing from something, at the time we don’t know what; a decision which has fractured her family.

The lighthouse is in a dilapidated condition and has a history of witch huntings attached to it, as too have other parts of the island. It’s clearly somewhere with a strange unwelcoming vibe.

The author has seamlessly woven a story between the past and the present involving witch’s curses, wildlings, superstition and folklore that has kept the villagers living in fear since 1662. When an ancient book belonging to the descendant of an islander, a ‘Grimoire’ is discovered which details the witch hunts and the unjust treatment meted out to those suspected of witchcraft, the creep factor goes up even more as the actions of the accusers and retaliation of those accused will cast their shadows on the island for generations.

The characters are well fleshed out with Liv having her own problems to cope with as well as trying to keep her family together. Despite some of the villagers appearing welcoming there is a sinister undercurrent and it certainly wouldn’t be anywhere I’d want to stay. Liv brushes off some of the rumours however she is no match for the ghosts of the past and Luna finds herself the only one of the family left. Her story in 2021 is one that will both shock and surprise as she returns to the place where she lost her entire family to try and find out what really happened. What is clear that even in these modern times, the old stories and rumours are still believed by some.

Superbly constructed. Dark, chilling and thoroughly engrossing whether or not you believe in the fantastical. It would be a great read at any time but with Halloween coming up, this would be perfect. Definitely recommended.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C.J. Cooke is an acclaimed, award-winning poet, novelist and academic with numerous other publications written under the name of Carolyn Jess-Cooke. Her work has been published in twenty- three languages to date. Born in Belfast, C.J. has a PhD in Literature from Queen’s University, Belfast, and is currently Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she researches creative writing interventions for mental health. C.J. Cooke lives in Glasgow with her husband and four children. She also founded the Stay-At-Home Festival.

Author Links:

Thank you for reading 🙂

2 thoughts on “The Lighthouse Witches by C J Cooke | Book Review | #TheLighthouseWitches”

Thanks for the blog tour support Karen x

My pleasure, thank you for the invite Anne x

I do love to read any comments 😊 Cancel reply

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Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J Cooke

As far as those at the Enchanted Emporium is concerned, September is really a precursor to Halloween so it’s the ideal time to share reviews for witchy books old and new. The Lighthouse Witches by C.J Cooke was released last year but deserves to be shouted about again now it’s spooky season.

With a hauntingly beautiful cover, it oozed darkness and menacing which meant Amber couldn’t wait to read it. Scroll down to see if it met her expectations.

Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J Cooke

Book cover for The Lighthouse Witches by C.J Cooke. Dark cover with red and black lighthouse amidst dark blue and grey stylised waves.

Title: The Lighthouse Witches

Author: C.J Cooke

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre: witchlit, paranormal, Gothic

Release Date: 30th September 2021

The brand-new chilling gothic thriller from the bestselling author . . .

But what really happened at the lighthouse all those years ago?

Thoughts from The Emporium

Based on an isolated Scottish island, The Lighthouse Witches is a deliciously dark tale full of gothic atmosphere. The descriptions of the lighthouse’s interior provided the location for an unnerving, fear based reading experience. Told by several narrators, including an ancient grimoire, it followed Luna as she returns to the island to discover the truth about her mother and sisters disappearance in 1998. The hostile welcome from the close-knit community added to the mystery and tension. With links to the 17 th century Scottish witch trials, both witches were hooked until the end. Even then their thoughts were drawn back to it. Thankfully, they had each other to discuss things with.

There were moments when Amber wondered how dark the story would go and began reading behind a cushion, Dr Who style. It may not be graphic but it forced both witches to use their imagination which may have made things worse. With increased tension, it hurtled towards an unexpected but satisfying conclusion.

If you want a chilling witchy pageturner with strong female characters, this is one to pull from a bookshelf. A perfect Halloween read.

Have you read it? The witches would love to know you thoughts.

Author Biography

black and white photo of author C.J Cooke. White woman with dark shoulder length hair and friendly smile

The Lighthouse Witches by CJ Cooke

In Reviews by Aster March 30, 2022 Leave a Comment

Liv accepts the commission to paint an abstract mural within a 100 year-old lighthouse located on a remote island in Scotland. It sounds like the ideal new start she and her three daughters - Luna, Clover, and Sapphire need. But, when Sapphire and Clover disappear within weeks of their arrival, Liv is terrified and then distraught when she learns that underneath their new home is an old prison which housed women accused of witchcraft.

The locals warn her that her missing children may return but if they do, they could return as wildings, creatures created by the prisoners as a form of revenge. The wildings may look like her missing children but they are not; they are dangerous and vicious creatures that must be killed.

Twenty-two years after her siblings disappearance, Luna is still searching for them and her mother. It is why when she receives a call about Clover, that she has been found alive, Luna is over the moon with joy. Clover is exactly as she remembers her when she disappeared - she's still even seven years-old. Haunted by the wilding stories of her childhood and terrified of the ageless face before her, Luna must return to the island and find the truth. She needs to know what happened to her family but uncovering the truth will change her in ways she cannot imagine.

| Why The Lighthouse Witches Is Worth Your Time

The Lighthouse Witches by CJ Cooke is a hit. The novel has a strong premise combining paranormal vibes, sci-fi elements, and intriguing characters to create a fun to read novel. Yes, there are aspects missing which would have increased the intensity of the story but, as long as you know the novel is not as intense as you'd imagine for a story revolving around missing children and witches, I think you will enjoy reading this.

The Lighthouse Witches falls into the beach read category as with its ease of time point transitions that keep the plot moving, you'll zoom through this. If you want a fun novel and an easy read, this is for you.

| Plot Progression

| characters.

The Lighthouse Witches contain a multitude of characters. Luna is the protagonist who was found in abandoned in the woods and has never saw her family since. Luna is scarred from her past and projects it on the present but when Clover is discovered at the same age she was when she disappeared, Luna transforms into a detective searching for answers to who Clover is and if she is truly a wilding.

Clover, Sapphire (Saffy), Liv, and the "journal," from the past are all complex characters but my favourite character are the journal entries as they set up the origins of the lighthouse whose history greatly impacts the other characters. Without the journal, the characters and their actions would not have dissolved into insanity... the question is, which characters dissolve into insanity and which ones don't? I'll let you know that all the characters are worth your time but for which ones dissolve into insanity, you'll have to read to find out.

Main Genre | Paranormal

Year Published | 2021

Rating | 6 / 10

Worth Your Time? Yes.

| My Thoughts

Warning: skip my thoughts for a spoiler free review..

I adored the premise but I feel its execution could have benefited from more fluidity, especially regarding the past versus the present. I think that would have helped catapult the story from a just above average read to a fantastic read. The time travel in this novel is what confused me most. It was poorly explained and even the characters couldn't understand what was happening. They went into a dark cavernous pool and reappeared in a new era and the explanation as to why? Rocks. That was poor at best and I wish there had been a touch more thought into creating the time travel pool especially at the end because I personally did not like the numbers.

Why would a pool carve numbers onto its time travellers? Why did we as readers not uncover how Amy discovered the key to time travelling? It literally could have been a physical key and I would have been fine with that. All the time travelling was not as well thought out as I wanted because the pool for me, felt like a poor plot device not a cohesive and integral part of the story. It was just thrown in there. Now, when I move away from my confusion surrounding the time travel, apart from Luna and Cassie's quick rekindling, nothing in this novel was confusing and I had fun. I really did have fun reading this.

I found the altering viewpoints and time periods flowed well, I really liked Luna as a protagonist, and I emoted towards all the characters. It was a good read that I read quickly even if it could have benefited from a touch more depth. I was also a touch frustrated with how Clover was portrayed at the beginning, throwing and burning things, when the Clover in the past was shown to be the opposite. Clover that we met in the present was the same person we saw in the past, how did she change so rapidly? I expected her disposition to be more subdued, not insane.

My overall thoughts for this novel revolve around me enjoying it whilst simultaneously wishing it was more. I wanted to read more about witches and wildings and I think my anticipation did hamper my overall reaction to this novel because when I saw the release for this, I was so stoked. I found this fun and liked it overall, but I wish we had more wildings!

| Your Thoughts

Did you decide that The Lighthouse Witches is worth a read? If so, let me know what you thought of the novel below! And check out My Thoughts once finished for guess what, my thoughts on this literary adventure!

Are you looking for something else? Check out these paranormal novels instead!

Was this worth an hour of your time? Because it was worth a slightly confusing hour of mine.

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Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Book review: the lighthouse witches.

Fall means changing leaves, the scent of a roaring fireplace, frost on the morning grass. It’s also a time for witches and Halloween. Since witches have been a staple of storytelling literally since Biblical times, the best stories build on that past while also offering something original and new. In the latest offering by author C.J. Cooke (we reviewed her previous novel, The Nesting , here ), The Lighthouse Witches , a desperate mother brings her daughters to a Scottish island that centuries ago burned witches. It’s a perfect tale for the season.

In 1998, single mother and artist Liv takes a commission to paint an old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island. Bringing her three daughters—15-year-old Sapphire, 9-year-old Luna and 7-year old Clover, she hopes the island will help ease the pain of losing their father. But the townspeople are clannish and superstitious, and the lighthouse itself once held a prison for women accused of witchcraft. As Liv gets more drawn into life on the island, she starts to wonder about the meaning behind the mural she’s been hired to paint.

In 2021, Luna is expecting her first child and still in mourning for her missing family when she gets a call that her sister Clover has been found. But instead of the adult woman she’d expected, Luna is presented with a 7-year-old child who believes it’s still 1998 and wants to be reunited with Mummy.

What happened to Luna’s family, and how is it possible that Clover hasn’t aged at all? Could the answer have something to do with “wildings,” which the villagers say were created by witches to mimic human children and destroy their families’ bloodlines? As Luna digs up long-forgotten memories, past and present line up for a scary collision.

The Lighthouse Witches is a complicated tale that Cooke pulls off smoothly and effortlessly. With multiple points-of-view and timelines, the story is grounded by her characters. Liv, hiding an enormous secret from her daughters, tries to give them a normal life even though she doesn’t know where they’ll live when her commission ends. Sapphire, her grief over the loss of her stepfather unacknowledged, tangles with the boyfriend of the local teenage witch while clashing with her mother. And Patrick, the owner of the lighthouse, has a past that can scarcely be imagined.

Cooke hides clues in plain sight and then commits a sleigh-of-hand that would make magicians proud. The book’s ending cannot be predicted, and yet feels completely inevitable.

“Who knows why we were taught to fear the witches, and not those who burned them alive?” Once again, C.J. Cooke reminds us that the real monsters come in human form.

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Review | The Lighthouse Witches – C.J. Cooke

About the Book

Two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found–but she’s still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting . When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it’s an opportunity to start over with her three daughters–Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she’s frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. Liv is told wildlings are dangerous and must be killed. Twenty-two years later, Luna has been searching for her missing sisters and mother. When she receives a call about her youngest sister, Clover, she’s initially ecstatic. Clover is the sister she remembers–except she’s still seven years old, the age she was when she vanished. Luna is worried Clover is a wildling. Luna has few memories of her time on the island, but she’ll have to return to find the truth of what happened to her family. But she doesn’t realize just how much the truth will change her.

Published October 5, 2021 Buy the book

This book was sent by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I will admit, I’m not much of a horror reader. I don’t really get into those kinds of books, and it takes a very specific kind of scary to get under my skin and actually make me feel much of anything. I do, however, love gothic stories. I love the slow creep of the abnormal, the subtle spread of darkness. Mostly, I love the atmosphere, that oppressive, looming vibe that permeates gothic books so well. If there is one thing gothic horror authors have mastered, it’s atmosphere.

The Lighthouse Witches is a slow burn book. The story is told with three different timelines and it will take you some time to be able to figure out how they all mix together and impact each other. This isn’t a book that hands you all the answers right away. Rather, it makes the reader work for them. Not everything is clear, and you won’t understand all the details you’ll want to understand until sometime later in the book. However, once that “ah ha” moment strikes, things move forward at a breakneck pace, picking up momentum until that breathless, unforgettable ending.

The book begins with one Olivia Stay, an artist who is hired to paint the inside of a lighthouse on a Scottish island. She, along with her three daughters, travels up there to do the thing. The lighthouse itself is supposedly built atop the ruins of an old prison where witches used to be kept. Sapphire, Olivia’s teenaged daughter, ends up finding an old journal which detailed the events that transpired there hundreds of years ago, the witch burnings which transpired in the 1600s.

The village outside of the lighthouse is a place that almost becomes a personality unto itself. The people there are friendly, but deeply superstitious, believing in changelings and various other magical creatures. It’s a small town, and remote, almost closed off by its location, which really allowed C.J. Cooke to lean into its development, and ultimately, use it as a tool to really layer in that subtle, creeping darkness that gothic horror is so known for. And it works in spades. The town, on its surface, is delightful, but it doesn’t take long to realize that not everything is as it should be, and that division between how things appear to how things are, is really where this novel flourishes.

The cave under the lighthouse was supposedly where witches were held before they were burnt at the stake. Lore has it, that once upon a time, witches haunted the island, creating a whole host of otherworldly nasties, like changelings and wildlings. The lore of this cave, and the events that transpired there, mix with the quaint town and all its oddities quite nicely, creating an ominous stew that gave the entire book a certain, dark feel that I just loved. That creeping, ominous dread I felt so acutely throughout.

Soon, two of Olivia’s daughters go missing, and another thread of the story picks up some twenty-two years later, when the one daughter who did not go missing, Luna, is pregnant with her first child, and still dealing with the trauma of what happened when she was younger on that island. She gets a call from the police that they’ve found one of her sisters, only her sister is still seven, not an adult as she should be. As you can expect, that is quite an event. Luna goes up there to see what’s going on. Ultimately, she has to return to the place where it all went wrong to figure out what happened, and how she can move forward in her own life.

Woven in through this is the third timeline, which details events as they transpired in the 1600s. All of this mixes together to create a fascinating slow-burn story, carefully written to not only engage readers, but to wrap them up in a multi-layered mystery that spans generations. The interplay of past to present fascinated me. I really enjoy books that explore how past events impact present situations, and so this timeline hopping as readers go from one thread to another, to another, each in different times, kept me quite engaged.

One of the things that I really ended up appreciating was just how well the author wove clues throughout the various narratives, which I didn’t even pick up at the time, but ended up looking back on with appreciation for just the subtle cleverness of them. This is one of those books where things matter that you might not think matter, and as you start drawing conclusions, you’ll look back and see things differently.

The moody, quaint landscape also ended up being a huge boon to the story. I don’t know many places much more gothic than a lighthouse on some Scottish island, so the place was chosen well for the story that needed to be told. Woven throughout are bits and pieces of mythology, folklore, things you may or may not recognize from myth and legend. Reality, history, and lore all mix together to create a story that is as moody and broody as the landscape itself.

The Lighthouse Witches was a compelling, clever, subtle story told with an artistry I truly appreciated. Beautifully written, with a lot of emotional depths and layers, this book is sure to please any fan of gothic horror.

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The Lighthouse Witches by CJ Cooke | Book Review

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

A Most Anticipated Novel by Pop Sugar * Book Riot * Betches * Bustle * and more! Utterly spellbinding....Witchcraft meets thriller. -- Pop Sugar Two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found--but she's still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting . When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it's an opportunity to start over with her three daughters--Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she's frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. Liv is told wildlings are dangerous and must be killed. Twenty-two years later, Luna has been searching for her missing sisters and mother. When she receives a call about her youngest sister, Clover, she's initially ecstatic. Clover is the sister she remembers--except she's still seven years old, the age she was when she vanished. Luna is worried Clover is a wildling. Luna has few memories of her time on the island, but she'll have to return to find the truth of what happened to her family. But she doesn't realize just how much the truth will change her.

The Lighthouse Witches by CJ Cooke hit my radar simply because witches was in the title. Also, the cover is so bold with the yellow-green colors. I had been in the mood for a mysterious, atmospheric read and particularly a book about witches . So, I eagerly dove into this book from Netgalley. Turns out it took me what felt like forever to get into and through.

It is a little bit hard for me to explain the plot of The Lighthouse Witches because there is a lot going on. There are three different timelines in this book. We have Luna’s timeline set in 2021. We have Liv and Saffy’s timeline set in 1998. Then we have Patrick’s timeline set in the late 1600s. Set on the island of Lon Haven in Scotland, this book follows all three timelines and a curse. You see at one point Luna’s sisters Clover and Sapphire “Saffy” disappeared, along with her mother Liv. But then 20 years later, Clover shows back up but at the same age she was when she disappeared 20 years ago. Luna isn’t quite sure what’s happened.

Meanwhile, in Liv’s timeline, she has been hired to paint a weird mural in the lighthouse on Lon Haven. In Patrick’s timeline, the witches are rounded up and burned. They curse Lon Haven. Legend has it that there are these creatures called wildlings who look exactly like the disappeared children. You have to kill the wildling or they will destroy your entire bloodline. So, things are a little bit intense in The Lighthouse Witches .

This book just was not it for me. I felt like it took too long for me to get into it and gel with the plot. It feels very meandering and slow. I also thought there was just too much going on. So, I would have appreciated a focus on one timeline. The ending was neat. However, it was too little too late. The threads came together really well but I did not care for the build up. I believe that this book should work for more patient people or people who actually sleep at night and can concentrate. For me, it is on to the next one.

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The Lighthouse Witches Kindle Edition

Print length 367 pages
Language English
Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
Publisher Berkley
Publication date October 5, 2021
File size 4087 KB
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Editorial Reviews

The Black Isle, Scotland

Night was drawing in and we hadn't yet met the owner. We'd driven hundreds of miles over mountains, through sleepy villages and winding roads, usually behind herds of cattle. We had taken a ferry, and got lost four times, on account of using an outdated, coffee-stained A-Z road map with several pages missing.

I parked up behind an old Range Rover. "We're here," I told the girls, who had fallen asleep against one another in the back. I wrapped my raincoat around Clover-she was wearing only a swimsuit over a pair of jeans-and lifted her up to walk a little way along the rocky beach daubed with spiky patches of marram and tough white flowers.

The lighthouse keeper's bothy was a squat stone dwelling built close to the lighthouse. Smoke plumed from the chimney, pressing the earthy smell of peat into our noses. A woman stepped out to greet us. "Olivia?" she said.

"Hi," I said. "Sorry I'm earlier than expected . . ."

"No trouble at all. Come on in out of the cold."

We found ourselves in a cramped hallway, where someone had pinned a shark's jawbone to the inner wall. Luna reached out to touch one of the teeth and I tugged her back.

Saffy nodded at it. "Is that from a great white?"

"Porbeagle shark," the woman-Isla-said with a tilt of her chin. "We don't get great whites. Porbeagles are just as big, mind, and every bit as dangerous."

"I don't like sharks, Mummy," Clover whispered.

"We have a basking shark that tends to hang around the bay," Isla said. She glanced down at Luna, who threw me a panicked look. "You'll be fine with a basking shark. No teeth, you see. Basil, he's called."

"Is this where we'll be staying?" Saffy asked warily, eyeing the shark jaw.

"It is indeed," Isla said. She turned to the girls. "I'm Isla Kissick, and it's absolutely thrilling to meet all of you. But I'm afraid I only know your mummy's name. Why don't you tell me your names?"

"I'm Luna," Luna said. "I'm nine."

"Luna," Isla said. "What a lovely name."

"It means 'moon,'" Luna said, a little shy.

"Mine's Clover," Clover said, elbowing Luna out of the way. "I'm seven and a half and my name means clover, like the plant."

"Also a lovely name," Isla said. "And I bet you already know that clovers are meant to bring good luck?"

Clover nodded. "Mm-hmm. But my mummy said you make your own luck."

"Very wise," Isla said, glancing at me approvingly. She turned to Saffy, who flushed red.

"And who might this lovely one be?" Isla said.

"Sapphire," Saffy mumbled to the floor. "I'm fifteen."

"Well now, that's lovely," Isla said. "My daughter, Rowan, is fifteen. I'm sure you'll meet soon enough. Now, come and sit down. I've made you all some supper."

I nodded at the girls to leave their bin bags in the hall before following Isla to a kitchen at the back, where the smell of freshly baked bread and tomato soup made my mouth water.

I'd supposed that Isla was Mr. Roberts' partner, but she turned out to be his housekeeper. She was short and lithe with long copper hair neatly pinned up, and her quick, round eyes searched all of us up and down. She had a beautiful Scottish brogue and spoke fast, as though the words were too hot to hold in her mouth for long. She was smartly turned out-a crisp white shirt, gray check trousers, polished ankle boots. The bothy was incongruously old-fashioned. I would learn that L˜n Haven, its inhabitants included, was full of skewed time spheres. The absence of modern retail chains and its breathtakingly rugged landscapes made the place feel like you'd stepped back in time, perhaps to the very beginnings of the earth. The lighthouse itself was built upon an ancient Scottish broch that was built upon a Neolithic fort, which in turn was built upon late Jurassic rock, like an architectural babushka doll.

"There you go," Isla said, placing bowls of steaming hot soup before each of us. I apologized again for the mix-up about our arrival. I'd planned to begin the commission a few weeks from now but decided to head north on the spur of the moment. Or the middle of the night, to be exact. We'd driven the whole way from York to Cromarty, only to find that the ferry was canceled for the day on account of high winds. The girls and I had to endure a very cold and uncomfortable night at a rest stop, sleeping in the car.

"It's no trouble," Isla said. "Mr. Roberts is away, of course, but I'm to take care of everything until he returns."

"Are we sleeping in the car again?" Clover said, wiping her mouth on the back of her sleeve.

"In the car?" Isla repeated, looking to me for explanation.

"I'm sure there are plenty of beds for all of us," I said quickly, and this time I was the one to look to Isla for confirmation. I didn't want to mention that we'd had to sleep rough.

"Of course there are," she said. "Shall I give you the grand tour?"

We followed Isla to the living room at the front of the house, overlooking the garden.

"Now, you'll have noticed it's a bit chilly on the island. So you're not to worry if you need to turn the heater on." She nodded at the wood-burning stove. "You'll find a shed at the side of the bothy stocked with wood. And I've put plenty of blankets in the cupboards for you to get cozy in the evenings. Which reminds me. Sometimes the electricity goes off. Nothing to worry about. You know how to manage an oil lantern?"

I followed her gaze to an old-fashioned oil lamp in the windowsill, which I'd assumed was for decoration. I caught Isla rolling her eyes as it became clear that no, I didn't know how to manage an oil lantern.

"I'll be sure to leave instructions," she said with a tight smile.

"Does Mr. Roberts live here?" Saffy asked.

"This is one of his properties," Isla said. "But no, he doesn't live here. His main residence is north of here, twenty minutes or so by car."

"Will you tell him I've arrived?" I asked.

"Well, I'd love to," Isla said brusquely, "but he's at sea just now."

"Aye, for all he has a half dozen houses dotted about the place, he prefers to be out on his boat."

"I have a boat," Clover offered.

Isla lifted an eyebrow. "Do ye, now?"

"It's green with a purple chimney and I play with it in the bath."

"Well, Mr. Roberts' boat is a wee bit bigger than that, I'd wager," Isla said, chuckling. "He tends to sail to Shetland at this time of year."

"He's a pirate, then?" Clover said, astonished.

Isla bent down to Clover's eye level. "No. But I reckon he'd be a good 'un."

"Do you come from Shetland?" Clover asked, running her fingertips along the stubbly wood-chip wallpaper. Wood chip was her favorite texture.

"No," Isla said. "I come from L˜n Haven. Where d'you come from?"

"My mummy's vagina," Clover said.

I watched Isla's face drop. "Girls, go have a look at your bedrooms," I said, ushering Clover quickly away. "Do you know when I'm to discuss the commission with Mr. Roberts?"

"He said to give you this." Isla reached into her trouser pocket and pulled out a piece of folded paper. I opened it up to find an elaborate and highly abstract sketch, a diagram of sorts. Lots of lines and arrows and circles, like a zodiac.

"What is it?" I said, turning the page to the side. There was no indication which way the sketch was meant to be viewed.

"It's the mural," Isla said flatly. "The thing you're painting inside the Longing."

I stared at her, wondering if I'd misheard. "This? This is the mural?"

She cocked her head. "Is something the matter?"

"No, no . . ." I said, though I didn't sound convincing, not even to my own ears. "I suppose I thought there might be more to it than this. Written instructions, perhaps."

"That's all Mr. Roberts has given me. He said I'm to fetch whatever equipment you need to do the job. So perhaps you can write me a list of whatever you require and I'll get onto it in the morning."

Still dumbfounded by the sketch, I said I would, but that I'd need to see inside the Longing first.

"Ah, now that would be an idea," she said, straightening a lampshade. "How about I show you just now?"

Outside, harsh winds buffeted us on the rocks, and I saw movement on the far reaches of the island. Seals, Isla told us. I was astonished at how close they were to the bothy, but she told me they were shy creatures, despite their size. They'd not bother us. I watched them slip off the stones into the black water, their shape in the dark almost human.

"Rowan wood," she said. "It's for protection."

I had no idea what she meant, but I stepped back as she tried to leverage the door open. Finally, it shifted. I lifted Clover onto my hip and held Luna's hand tight as we followed Isla inside.

"Bloody hell," Saffy said, looking around. "This place is rank."

I shushed her, but couldn't help agreeing internally.

I'd never been inside a lighthouse before. I'd expected floor levels, an enclosed staircase. The Longing, however, was a grim, granite cone. A rickety staircase was pinned loosely against the wall, spiraling Hitchcock-style to the lantern room at the very top. The place reeked of damp and rotting fish. I wondered why we were standing in an inch of black liquid, until Isla explained that one of the lower windows was broken, and over time seawater had poured inside and pooled on the floor.

"I gather you'll need something to pump it out before you start," she said.

"Mr. Roberts is turning it into a writing studio, is that right?" I asked, and Isla nodded.

"He's not published," she added. "Just a hobby. I wouldn't be expecting him to produce The Iliad or anything like that. He bought it last year and didn't seem to know what to do with it. Next thing I know, he's asking me about getting a painter in to prettify it, make it into a writing studio." She gave a shrill laugh. "Whoever heard of such a thing? Surely all you need to write is a pen and paper."

"Maybe the views will inspire him," I offered.

"Aye. Inspire him to go off sailing, more like."

"It's a hundred and forty-nine feet tall," Isla said, swinging her torchlight to the very top. "A hundred and thirty-eight steps to the lantern room. Braw views up there. I can show you when it's light." Her torchlight rested on patches of paint that had crumbled off, revealing raw stone. About halfway up someone had graffitied a section of the wall in garish shades of lime green and black.

"There was a break-in," Isla said darkly. "Outsiders, you see. We get them here a lot more now, since the rental properties on the east side opened up. And the Neolithic museum, that's new. You should take your girls."

Isla reassured us that break-ins like this were rare, that tourists-or "outsiders"-didn't frequent the place often. L˜n Haven's population was predominantly grassroots, with sixty or so archaeologists from "the University" working at the Neolithic sites. Some of the younger population had inherited crofts that they didn't want to live in, so they'd started renting them out. The older population objected strongly both to the younger islanders moving away ("All of them want to live in Edinburgh or London," Isla recalled with a sneer) and, as a result, drawing "outsiders" to the island to rent out the crofts.

"Has the lighthouse ever been submerged?" I asked. I could hear wind pummeling the stone walls, the loud suck and slap of the waves close by.

"We get our fair share of storms," Isla said, and I could tell she was choosing her words carefully so as not to put me off. "But the Longing has been standing for a hundred years amidst all that Mother Nature and the sea gods have to throw at her, and I daresay she'll stand a hundred more." A pause. "So long as you keep rowan on the door, you'll be fine."

It was as she said this that I felt a wave of dŽjˆ vu pass over me. Saffy, Luna, and Isla were beginning to head toward the door to leave, but the feeling of familiarity was so strong that I paused, as though someone had spoken and I was trying to understand what they'd said.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08TTNH531
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley (October 5, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 5, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4087 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 367 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 059333423X
#255 in Witch & Wizard Thrillers
#1,622 in Paranormal Suspense
#4,000 in Horror (Kindle Store)

About the author

C J Cooke (Carolyn Jess-Cooke) lives in Glasgow with her husband and four children. C J Cooke's works have been published in 23 languages and have won many awards. She holds a PhD in Literature from the Queen's University of Belfast and is currently Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she researches creative writing interventions for mental health. Two of her books are currently optioned for film. Visit www.cjcookeauthor.com

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Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches

This book must be in high demand since it currently has a 14 day max checkout at my library!!

For me this book was an interesting mystery that utilized folklore to create atmosphere and intrigue. I was unaware that so many women were murdered as ‘witches’ in Scotland so I found the ‘history’ parts of this novel very interesting. I also enjoyed delving into the creatures of folklore from both the Scottish and Icelandic traditions, as I am unfamiliar with both.

The story revolves around a mother, her three daughters, and their time spent on a Scottish island from which three of the four ‘disappear.’ The traditional beliefs/superstitions of the islanders provide explanations for the disappearances but also lead to further deaths and disappearances. When the non-missing daughter is informed (as an adult) that one of her sisters has been found she returns to the island to attempt to find her missing mother and other missing sister. The strange part is that the sister who was found is still a child, and it’s been over 20yrs since she went missing!!

This story provides a number of twists and turns and I admit that there were times when I thought the traditional superstitions had to be correct interpretations of the strange happenings on the island. I was certainly pulled into the narrative, the lives and emotions of the characters, and the rich fabric of Scottish folklore and legend. This was a really fun and intriguing read!

Read on my friends!

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COMMENTS

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
C.J. Cooke. 3.95. 21,485 ratings3,146 reviews. Two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found—but she's still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting.
Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
A mixture of literary horror and mystery, this book plants red herrings everywhere, in both the characters' and s the readers' path. Even by the very end I was uncertain if there was something supernatural at work, or just an evil earthly presence that had outsmarted everyone. About halfway through the story Liv accepts that her regular ...
Book Review
The Lighthouse Witches is a mythological mystery that blends wildlings folklore, the witch trials, missing family and the power of time. The story is presented in three timelines with different POVs, but the short chapters and clear headings made it easy to read.
Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches
Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches. High upon the cliffs of a remote Scottish island, Lon Haven, sits a lighthouse that has weathered storms for centuries. Liv Stay has fled to the island with her three daughters - Sapphire, fifteen; Luna, nine; and seven-year-old Clover. A single mother, she's been commissioned to paint a mural in the ...
The Lighthouse Witches Book Review
The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting. When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it's an opportunity to start over with her three daughters - Luna, Sapphire, and Clover.
Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own. The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke Mogsy's Rating: 4 of 5 stars Genre: Mystery, Suspense Series: Stand Alone Publisher: Berkley(October 5, 2021) Length: 368 pages Author Information: Website | Twitter After The Nesting last year, I just knew I had…
The Lighthouse Witches By C. J. Cooke (Review by Stacie Kitchen)
Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐ The Lighthouse Witches is a good part spooky mystery, historical fiction, and fantasy. When Liv gets a commission to paint a mural in […]
Amazon.com: The Lighthouse Witches: 9780593334232: Cooke, C. J.: Books
The Lighthouse Witches. Paperback - October 5, 2021. by C. J. Cooke (Author) 2,924. See all formats and editions. Savings Get 3 for the price of 2 Shop items. A Most Anticipated Novel by Pop Sugar * Book Riot * Betches * Bustle * and more! "Utterly spellbinding....Witchcraft meets thriller."--Pop Sugar. Two sisters go missing on a remote ...
The Lighthouse Witches By C.J. Cooke : Review
The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting. When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it's an opportunity to start over with her three daughters-Luna, Sapphire, and Clover.
The Lighthouse Witches by C. J. Cooke: 9780593334232
About The Lighthouse Witches. A Most Anticipated Novel by Pop Sugar * Book Riot * Betches * Bustle * and more! "Utterly spellbinding….Witchcraft meets thriller."—Pop Sugar Two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found-but she's still the same age as when she disappeared.
Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J Cooke
The Lighthouse Witches is a deliciously dark tale based on an isolated island in Scotland which automatically adds to the gothic atmosphere. The descriptions of the lighthouse's interior gave it an ideal setting for an unnerving, fear based reading experience. Told by several narrators including an ancient grimoire it follows Luna who has to ...
Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The Lighthouse Witches
Having finished The Lighthouse Witches, I only wish I'd have gotten to it sooner. This book is soooo much fun. There are witches - both of the actual, magical variety and of the ordinary women prosecuted by insecure men on power trips variety. There is magic. There is folklore and mysterious creatures known as Wildlings.
The Lighthouse Witches by C J Cooke
The lighthouse is in a dilapidated condition and has a history of witch huntings attached to it, as too have other parts of the island. It's clearly somewhere with a strange unwelcoming vibe. The author has seamlessly woven a story between the past and the present involving witch's curses, wildlings, superstition and folklore that has kept ...
Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J Cooke
Title: The Lighthouse Witches Author: C.J Cooke Publisher: HarperCollins Genre: witchlit, paranormal, Gothic Release Date: 30th September 2021 Blurb. The brand-new chilling gothic thriller from the bestselling author . . . Upon the cliffs of a remote Scottish island, Lòn Haven, stands a lighthouse.
The Lighthouse Witches by CJ Cooke
The Lighthouse Witches contain a multitude of characters.Luna is the protagonist who was found in abandoned in the woods and has never saw her family since. Luna is scarred from her past and projects it on the present but when Clover is discovered at the same age she was when she disappeared, Luna transforms into a detective searching for answers to who Clover is and if she is truly a wilding.
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In 1590, whilst on the way back from Denmark, King James's ship was battered by storms. In Denmark, witches were accused of being responsible for storms - this notion ignited King James's subsequent witch hunts. Over 2,500 people were killed, having been accused of witchcraft. "We are not just made of blood and bone- we are made of stories.
A Review of C. J. Cooke's "The Lighthouse Witches"
The background use of runes and animal bones make the novel also seem wistfully magical. The witches' storyline is enthralling and captivating. So, there are things about this book that make it worthy of examination. However, The Lighthouse Witches has some issues. For one thing, the segments set in the 1600s are written in a 21st-century ...
Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches
The Lighthouse Witches is a complicated tale that Cooke pulls off smoothly and effortlessly. With multiple points-of-view and timelines, the story is grounded by her characters. Liv, hiding an enormous secret from her daughters, tries to give them a normal life even though she doesn't know where they'll live when her commission ends.
Review
The book begins with one Olivia Stay, an artist who is hired to paint the inside of a lighthouse on a Scottish island. She, along with her three daughters, travels up there to do the thing. The lighthouse itself is supposedly built atop the ruins of an old prison where witches used to be kept.
The Lighthouse Witches by CJ Cooke
I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. The Lighthouse Witches by C. J. Cooke Published by Penguin Publishing Group on November 5, 2021 Genres: Fiction / Horror, Fiction / Thrillers / Supernatural, Fiction / Women Pages: 368 Format: eARC
Amazon.com: The Lighthouse Witches eBook : Cooke, C. J.: Books
The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting. When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it's an opportunity to start over with her three daughters--Luna, Sapphire, and Clover.
Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches
Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches. Posted on April 28, 2022 May 4, 2022 By Hadassah Bergstrom Posted in Mystery, Reviews Tagged fiction, Mystery, women (4 / 5) The Lighthouse Witches - C.J. Cooke This book must be in high demand since it currently has a 14 day max checkout at my library!! ...
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke
Twenty years later, Luna's missing sister turns up out of the blue. She is exactly the girl Luna remembers. Same face. Same smile. Same age. Faced with the impossible, it's up to Luna to find out what really happened at the lighthouse all those years ago. Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN: 9780008455446.
BOOK REVIEW ⁣ ⁣ The Lighthouse Witches
785 likes, 39 comments - crystalclearchaptersOctober 5, 2021 on : "慄 BOOK REVIEW 慄⁣ ⁣ The Lighthouse Witches ⁣ By: C.J. Cooke @cjcooke_author⁣ Rating: I LOVED it /5 ...

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