The Lighthouse Witches 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 . . .

Review
Last year I read and reviewed The Nesting by C.J Cooke that was a brilliantly dark read, so I was really excited to be part of the blog tour for this, her new book The Lighthouse Witches. Set on the fictional island of Lòn Haven is the old lighthouse The Longing, built on land once the centre of the 1662 Witch Trials. In 1998 Olivia moves the Island with her three daughters, Saffy , Luna and Clover, to take on an art comission to paint a mural on the wall of the lighthouse. Drawn into the history of the Island, of withches, curses, wildings and omens, Liv starts to see things, both real and not that will eventually result in Liv and two of her daughters disappearing. In 2021 Luna is pregnant with her first child when she gets a call that takes her back to Scotland and ultimately Lòn Haven, where she tries to find out what happened to her mother and sisters twenty three years ago.

The Lighthouse Witches is a book that sent tingles down my spine with the undercurrent of menace throughout. In 1998, Liv is running from herself taking her daughters to Lòn Haven in the middle of the night. This is a small island, open to the elements and very different to their previous home in York, and has a heritage of myth and folklore that goes back to the witch burnings of 1662. The Longing, Lighthouse is delapidated, and stands alone rather like Liv as a single mother; her against the world. She doesn’t believe in witches, wildlings, and the occult but she is surrounded by those who do. The Island gives her work and new friends, a life she didn’t have before so the temptation is to stay. Her eldest daughter Saffy is fifteen and has the usual teenage angst, is furious her mother has taken them to the island making her leave her school, friends and boyfriend. Mixed in to their story is that of Patrick Roberts, a child in 1662 whose mother was burned for witchcraft. Through his eyes we see the fear of those women who were different, midwives and healers and the ultimate price they paid. Patrick’s story also follows his life after that time, and his love for a girl called Amy. As these stories intertwine the plot becomes very unsettling, as past and present overlap.

The Lighthouse Witches is the perfect book title for this time of year, and with not only witches but wildlings, children who have been killed by the fae who then inhabit the bodies and seek revenge on humans. Add to this to the folkore, the runes and symbols, this is is one creepy read. The Island itself adds to the atmosphere, with The Longing delapidated and alone on a rock and the bothy, the cottage next to it, open to the harsh elements of the wind and sea and of course the history. C.J Cooke certianly knows how to build the suspense and this book is bursting with it. We know from the start of the book that Liv, Saffy and Clover go missing in 1998,and as the book built up to this my heart was actually in my mouth. In the present Luna’s arrival sees a different Lòn Haven, physically at least but I could still feel the menacing undercurrent.

The Lighthouse Witches is another dark and unsettling read for C.J Cooke. With characters whose vunerability you care about, and those you don’t know if you should trust make for a compellimg combination. Witches, wildlings and the occult add an unease to this story that is full of tension, suspense and a menacing undercurrent. This is a chilling, haunting and engaging book, with its base in history and folklore, and a bit of superstition mixed with the supernatural .

I would like to thank Harper Collins and Anne Cater at Random Things Tour for the invite to be part of this blog tour in return for my honest review.