by C.J. Cooke
SYNOPSIS 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?
REVIEW
The Lighthouse Witches is a multi-narrative story which takes place over three separate timelines.
In the 1600’s a group of twelve women were accused of witchcraft and persecuted on the remote Scottish island of Lòn Haven.
In 1998, Liv and her three daughters Saffy, Luna and Clover arrive on the island after Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in the lighthouse there. The family get dangerously swept up in the local history and lore, resulting in the disappearance of two of Liv’s daughters.
In the present day, Luna who is preparing to become a mother for the first time is desperately searching for answers about what really happened to her family all those years ago on Lòn Haven.
I am half Welsh and half Scottish so I grew up hearing about and reading a lot of Celtic Folktales. The thing I loved the most about this book was the way in which the fantasy and folklore elements were woven into an already creepy and unsettling story, combining two of my favourite genres. I actually have family who live on a remote Scottish island, so the descriptions of the close-knit island community (set in their ways and traditions) felt incredibly real and authentic for me.
I was also pleasantly surprised that overall the book took a very different direction than I had imagined. I knew that witchcraft and witch-hunts featured heavily in the story. However, I was only a few chapters in when one of the major twists completely stopped me in my tracks! I had to go back and re-read that section because it was such an unexpected turn of events. It was one of those rarer moments in a book when you stop and think, well this just got interesting!
Gothic, dark, surprising and utterly enthralling, The Lighthouse Witches is a really strong contender for my book of the year. I got completely swept up in all three parts of the story and read excitedly through page after page, wanting to find out what happened but at the same time never wanting it to end. Basically I adored everything about it - the rugged Scottish setting, the references to Witchcraft, the unexpected supernatural elements and the mystery of the missing family running throughout - all added together to make The Lighthouse Witches the most perfect and original gothic thriller.
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.
Thanks to Anne Cater - @RandomTTours, @fictionpubteam and @CJessCooke for the opportunity to read and review.
Fiction: Gothic / Horror / Thriller
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-0008354695
Pages: 432pp
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