The Lighthouse Witches by C. J. Cooke – Blog Tour Review.

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?

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. I’ve always enjoyed reading about the witch trials that took place in the 1600’s but had never known that any occurred in Scotland. I couldn’t wait to read this novel and find out more.

It is told from three different members of the same family. A mother, who is trying to run away from illness and a relationship that has turned sour and two of her three children, Sapphire and Luna. Unusually it is also told from two different periods in time, 1998 and 2021 with the addition of excerpts from a grimoire. These excerpts quickly became one of my favourite parts of the novel, I found them absolutely fascinating. I felt I was there, seeing the terror of the women on trial, the devastation of their children and the manic fury of the those who had decided the women’s fate.

Superstition forms a huge part of this novel, many locals believed every word that had been passed down over the years. Some of these were probably descendants of those who were killed or the ones who passed the verdict many years earlier. All of this, combined with totally different opinions from visitors to the area contributed to me having know idea of which way the novel would go.

I read many novels where the story is told by different narrators. This is one of my favourites, nearly every time it switched I needed to know what happened next. I found this an amazing novel and I will definitely be reading more books by this author.