C.J. Cooke delivers a stunning new novel
I discovered C.J. Cooke this year, and she has already become an auto-buy author for me. She is such a gifted storyteller. The emotions are palpable in her latest, a feminist story, with folklore, horror, historical fiction, thriller, and paranormal elements.
This has a dual timeline: the 1590s, where Alison finds herself wrongly accused of witchcraft, and 2024, where Clem is fighting to find out what happened to her daughter Erin who went on a hiking trip and ended up in the hospital badly burned and near death, with one of her companions dead and the other missing. Are the two situations related? Cooke weaves the tale together brilliantly.
The writing is incredibly atmospheric, and the story is well-researched. I felt like I was there in the modern-day hospital and on the Island of Orkney in the 16th century. Some scenes are chilling, and all are vivid, as is the feeling of creeping dread and the curiosity to uncover what it is that binds all involved. We see how far mothers will go for their children, and the terrible injustices and brutality people will inflict on one another.
The characters are so beautifully developed and memorable. Both timelines are suspenseful, and I was riveted. If I had to put the book down, I was thinking about it. This was an emotional read for me, with fear, anger, heartbreak, and hope, and a huge book hangover ensued. The Author's Note was super interesting, too. Perfect for spooky season.
Paula Masterton narrates the audiobook and delivers a nuanced performance as she brings a range of characters to life. She added to the emotions, the build-up of suspense, the atmosphere, and the book's mysteries, from figuring out what happened to Erin to the magic. This was very compelling both in print and on audiobook!
Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Penguin Random House Audio for the complimentary book and audiobook!
The Book of Witching releases on October 8, 2024
My steep was Organic Herbal Comfort by Full Leaf Tea Company
A blend of Licorice Root, Peppermint Leaf, Fennel, and Holy Basil.
PUBLISHER'S SYNOPSIS:
A mother must fight for her daughter’s life in this fierce and haunting tale of witchcraft and revenge from the author of A Haunting in the Arctic.
Clem gets a call that is every mother’s worst nightmare. Her nineteen-year-old daughter Erin is unconscious in the hospital after a hiking trip with her friends on the remote Orkney Islands that met a horrifying end, leaving her boyfriend dead and her best friend missing. When Erin wakes, she doesn’t recognize her mother. And she doesn’t answer to her name, but insists she is someone named Nyx.
Clem travels the site of her daughter’s accident, determined to find out what happened to her. The answer may lie in a dark secret in the history of the Orkneys: a woman wrongly accused of witchcraft and murder four centuries ago. Clem begins to wonder if Erin’s strange behavior is a symptom of a broken mind, or the effects of an ancient curse?
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