The Lighthouse Witches

C. J. Cooke

2021

Ratings22

Average rating3.9

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.

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justine

I did not expect the plot twist to be what it was and not much happens, unfortunately, so it wasn't really spooky or thrilling. However, I still enjoyed the story and the different POVs even though the writing was a bit weak.

Brilliant book

I love a Gothic novel and this book ticked all the boxes for me. It was dark, haunting and such a compelling read. The story is set in a secluded part of Scotland where Liv, a mother of three girls has been commissioned to paint a mural inside an old abandoned lighthouse. Fleeing from her former life Liv is happy to start over again, much to the annoyance of her teenage daughter Saffy, causing a rift in their relationship. Working on the lighthouse is a challenge especially with the nuisance of the bats to contend with and the strange symbols that appear along with other ghostly happenings. The lighthouse was once a place where women, who were accused of witchcraft, were kept before their trial.

Strange things start to happen when Saffy decides to hide from her mother to punish her for bringing them to Lòn Haven, and a child identical to her daughter knocks on her door one evening. The locals believe this child is a wildling who is there to kill everyone in the family. They warn and plead with Liv that the only way to protect her family is to kill the child/wildling. Running alongside this story line is Luna's story, she is now an adult and still trying to deal with losing her family when she was a child. Saffy never returned and then both her mother, Liv and her little sister Clover went missing. Luna was taken into foster care and has always been trying to locate news of her family. Then one day she gets a call saying they have found Clover. When Luna arrives at the hospital Clover is still a child and hasn't appeared to age in the twenty years since she last saw her. But how is this possible? Is this the real Clover or an impostor?

The Lighthouse Witches is deliciously creepy in parts; a Gothic thriller with a bit of witchcraft thrown in, a mystery to solve and at the centre a family of female characters. One of my favourite reads this year. Highly recommend.

October 3, 2021