Synopsis:
In The Lighthouse Witches 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.
Edition:
E-ARC
Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary e-book copy of The Lighthouse Witches via the publisher & Net Galley. This does not affect the contents of my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.
Trigger Warnings:
Hover for Trigger WarningsMy Thoughts:
The Lighthouse Witches is told from shifting narratives during shifting timeframes. Sometimes I find that style of storytelling incredibly frustrating, but not here. Cooke has managed to weave such a compelling narrative tapestry here that I had a really hard time putting this book down for meals, sleep, work, etc. I just wanted to sit down and figure the whole thing out in one go. But, as I’m sure you can understand – Life, she don’t cooperate. So instead it took me a few days. But that’s almost better because it gave me plenty of opportunity to soak up the ambiance of the story. And ambiance it has. The Lighthouse Witches places us at a lighthouse called The Longing on Lón Haven, a small Scottish isle. It is windy, cliffy, and moody just as one would expect a small Scottish isle bearing a lighthouse with A History to be.
Oh, did I forget to mention the History? Yeah, so The Longing is built atop a prison where accused witches were held pending “trial.” See, there was a rash of witch burnings on the island in the 1600s which led to a curse being placed by an accused woman, and a pervasive myth about wildlings infesting the area that has some of the residents in a tizzy to this very day. And admittedly there have always been strange happenings and disappearances on Lón Haven. And sometimes the missing reappear, but are a little…different…than they were before.
“You shall not suffer a witch to live.”
At The Longing in 1998 we meet our main cast of characters – single mother Liv, and her three daughters Sapphire (15), Luna (9) and Clover (7). Liv is an artist who was hired by Patrick to paint a rather interesting mural on the inside of the lighthouse. Liv and Sapphire have a troubled relationship. If you have or have ever been a teenager, I’m sure this isn’t terribly shocking to you. Then Saffy disappears, only it takes Liv a few days to notice, since she just assumed the teen was avoiding her. And just like that the family’s entire world begins to (hypothetically) unknit itself. One disappearance leads to another, and another and another. But then Luna is found wandering from the forest a few days later with no memory of how she ended up there. She only knows that her sisters went missing and her mother has abandoned her.
Cut to present day where a now very pregnant Luna receives news that Clover has been found. Impossibly, Clover is exactly as she remembers her. Right down to the fact that she is somehow still just seven years old. But the child is without a doubt Clover – that much becomes clear rather quickly. What the hell is going on here?!
The Lighthouse Witches is a fascinating story about love, revenge, magic, and the dangers of messing with people and things you don’t understand. It’s about love, tolerance, and forgiveness. Other notable themes are coping with grief, motherhood, dealing with change, and the importance of access to comprehensive healthcare. Also why you shouldn’t make a witch truly angry, or believe everything you’re told by a person with Something to Lose and/or Gain.
About the Author:
C. J. Cooke is an award-winning poet and novelist published in twenty-three languages. She teaches creative writing at the University of Glasgow, where she also researches the impact of motherhood on women’s writing and creative writing interventions for mental health.
Rating:
The Lighthouse Witches is a compulsively readable gothic mystery.
The Lighthouse Witches By C.J. Cooke Berkley Books (UK version by HarperCollins UK) Expected Publication: October 5, 2021 ISBN: 9780593334232 Hardcover, Paperback, E-book, Audio 368 Pages Author's Website
