In the past few years, ever since I reviewed The Lighthouse Witches, C J Cooke has fast become my favourite Gothic author and I have been lucky enough to review a few of her more recent novels on this blog. Her work is very atmospheric and often set in Scotland, which is what drew me to her novels in the first instance, so I was delighted when her publisher, Harper Collins, sent me an ARC of her latest novel. I fell on it immediately, putting everything else on hold until I had read the book.
The Book of Witching is a story of the witch trials that swept through Scotland during the 1500's. Set on the Orkney Isles, it follows the fate of Alison, a woman who is a skilled healer and herbalist who is inadvertently drawn into the political intrigues of the islands at that time. King James VI is on the throne of Scotland and he has recently made his feelings on witchcraft quite clear, having presided over the Berwick witch trials a couple of years earlier. So this is not a great time for a wise woman to come to the attention of powerful men with a political agenda! Even worse, Alison comes from a family known to be skilled at spellcraft, a family who hold a very special book of magic in their possession.
Fast forward a few hundred years to the present day and Alison's fate becomes entangled with that of a young girl, Erin, who is found very badly burnt on one of the islands after a trip to Orkney with her boyfriend and best friend. When Erin comes out of a coma, she claims that her name is Nyx and that she doesn't know who Erin is. As the novel slips back and forth between these two timelines, we begin to unravel just how Erin is connected to a woman accused of witchcraft four hundred years ago.
This is such a thrilling read! The chapters alternate between one timeline and the other so that you're never quite sure how it all fits together, but you know that it does. It skips along at a fast pace and the structural use of the turning points is designed to keep you invested in the story. As with all of C J Cooke's novels, the Gothic atmosphere is dark and ominous, the threat building throughout the story. Her way of creating tension in the reader is second to none. In many ways, C J Cooke's style of writing reminds me very much of contemporary Gothic masters such as Victoria Holt and Virginia Andrews - her stories have that same undercurrent of mystery, secrets and tension, akin to the Flowers in the Attic series, but with witchcraft attached!
The Book of Witching held me in its grip from the opening paragraphs, which is something that I look for in novels - I like a book that starts on the very first page and this one certainly does, dropping the reader into the midst of the action and catastrophe right from the start. It's the kind of story where you find yourself holding your breath as you read, because it does tackle some very dark topics such as torture, serious injury, incarceration, mock executions, and the powerlessness of women who were accused of something they didn't do, but who knew that the odds were stacked against them from the very first whisper of 'witch!' It brought tears to my eyes at times and I really felt for both the injured characters and their dual plight.
This Orcadian novel has all the eerie vibes of a witchy thriller, with secret cults, a coven of witches, an enchanted and indomitable book of magic and powerful men providing lots of menace. I wouldn't describe it as a cosy read for autumn, because it evokes such a powerful and indignant response in the reader for the crimes that have been committed against women for centuries. Having read lots of books about the witch trials over the years, I thought that I had become somewhat desensitized to the topic, but this novel really drove it home to me once again how lucky I am to be able to practice my Craft in safety, without fear of being tortured and burnt for it. There is the sense that Alison's fate could so easily have been mine, or yours, or our mother's and grandmother's. It is only the passing of time that keeps us safe.
While it might not be an especially comforting novel, The Book of Witching is a wonderful and disturbing witchy thriller that will keep your heart in your mouth from cover to cover, so if you are in the mood to be scared to death by the plight of witches past this October, this is the book for you. It's certainly a great novel to curl up with on Samhain night, when the pumpkins are gleaming and it's dark and cold outside. Light a candle in remembrance of the lost souls of historical women who were burnt as witches, and enjoy the safety of modern practice this All Hallows Eve. Blessed Be.
Marie x
AD: This novel was sent to me by the publisher, Harper Collins, for the purposes of review. It will be released on October 10th 2024 and is available in hardback, digital and audio formats.
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