The Lighthouse Witches
By C.J. Cooke (2021)
In October 2023, my mum and I went for a weekend away in Edinburgh. As we both love ‘spooky season’ we wanted the trip to be on theme. Of course, we drank enough pumpkin-spiced lattes to sink a battleship, filled my camera roll with photos of golden leaves, and went home with a few more jumpers than we’d come with.
Whilst we were there, we took a witch-themed tour of the Old Town, led by a stern-voiced woman in a witch costume. We were engrossed, hanging on to every word she said. This was not your typical run-of-the-mill “oh a wrinkly old man who made a policy died here” type tour, this tour taught us about real women who were persecuted by King James VI. In 1590, whilst on the way back from Denmark, King James’s ship was battered by storms. In Denmark, witches were accused of being responsible for storms - this notion ignited King James’s subsequent witch hunts. Over 2,500 people were killed, having been accused of witchcraft.
“We are not just made of blood and bone- we are made of stories. Some of us have our stories told for us, other write their own- you wrote yours.”
In 1998, Liv and her three daughters - Saffy, Luna and Clover - move to the remote Scottish island of Lon Haven. As an artist, Liv has taken on a comission to paint a mural on the wall of a rickety, old lighthouse. The lighthouse (The Longing) is rumoured to have been the site where women who were accused of witchcraft were detained, tortured, and subsequently murdered. The rich, haunting history of Lon Haven provides the underbelly of the story.
When Liv, Saffy and Clover go missing, the story is plunged into a spiralling mystery spanning three different eras: the 1600s (through the Grimoire of Patrick, whose story connects to the present), 1998, and 2021 (when Luna is grown, and still searching for her family). The story keeps a strong pace by jumping between eras, making it hard to put down as more mysteries are around every corner.
Superstition, folklore, and real history seamlessly blend, creating this Gothic, modern tale of witchcraft and mystery. Cooke creates a haunting atmosphere through the setting of Lon Haven, and the chilling attitudes of the townsfolk.
I could not recommend this book enough if you are curious about witch-history, and even if you aren’t, this is a thrilling read that will capture your imagination, whilst informing you about the injustice of the witch hunts. Cooke ends the book with the petition for an appropriate memorial in Edinburgh’s Old Town for the women and men who were wrongly accused. Our tour guide ended the tour with the same thing. The petition is being considered by Scottish Parliament.
Notable quotes:
“Life continues outrageously, in whatever form it can. An unstoppable circularity: the past always in the present.”
“Memories, like stones, have their own gravity.”
“Forgiveness is a kind of time travel, only better, because it sutures the wounds of the past with the wisdom of the present in the same moment as it promises a better future.”
“We form stories about our lives to create meaning out of them—without meaning, they feel shapeless and without purpose. When something lies beyond the realm of meaning, it’s terrifying.”
“...the ocean, the perpetual shapeshifter: one day a disc of hammered gold, the next wild and rearing, like a thousand white horses. I noticed how the ocean had moods, just like a person.”
“Most people's pasts can be viewed like cleaved water left in the wake of a boat. Hers? It's a tangled weave of spider webs and nightmares, never to make sense.”