"Chilling and beautifully written, The Book of Witching gripped me from the very first sentence: I read it in one sitting. A haunting recreation of a real Scottish witch trial, this is CJ Cooke's finest novel yet.”–Emilia Hart, author of Weyward
by C. J. Cooke
October 8, 2024
Berkley
Genre: Historical Thriller, Paranormal Suspense, Women's Historical Fiction
A witch’s curse cast centuries ago will strike again in this spine-tingling Gothic novel 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 on the Orkney Islands that met a horrifying end. Even worse, her boyfriend is dead and her best friend is 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. But instead of answers, she finds a dark secret in the history of the Orkneys: a woman wrongly put to death for witchcraft four centuries ago and whispers of a hex she set in retaliation. Clem begins to wonder if Erin’s strange behavior is a symptom of a broken mind, or the effects of an ancient curse?
About the author
website
C. J. Cooke is an award-winning poet and novelist published in twenty-three languages. She teaches creative writing at the University of Glasgow, where she also researches the impact of motherhood on women's writing and creative writing interventions for mental health. C J Cooke (Carolyn Jess-Cooke) lives in Glasgow with her husband and four children. C J Cooke's works have been published in 23 languages and have won many awards. She holds a PhD in Literature from the Queen's University of Belfast and is currently Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she researches creative writing interventions for mental health. Two of her books are currently optioned for film.
A witch’s curse cast centuries ago will strike again in this spine-tingling Gothic novel 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 on the Orkney Islands that met a horrifying end. Even worse, her boyfriend is dead and her best friend is 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. But instead of answers, she finds a dark secret in the history of the Orkneys: a woman wrongly put to death for witchcraft four centuries ago and whispers of a hex she set in retaliation. Clem begins to wonder if Erin’s strange behavior is a symptom of a broken mind, or the effects of an ancient curse?
Praise for C.J. Cooke’s novels
“An unnerving tale full of ghosts, selkies and plenty of mystery, which Cooke deploys not only to craft the novel’s frights but also to probe ideas of grief and retribution…haunting.”—The New York Times
"Rich, chilling and gorgeously gothic. A Haunting in the Arctic is the kind of enchanting, terrifying mystery I just adore."—Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End
Utterly spellbinding.... Witchcraft meets thriller.”—PopSugar
“Truly scary.... A new horror novel set on a remote Scottish island.”—BookRiot
“A taut, scary thriller that winds the suspense so tightly you can barely breathe. I was rooting for the heroine all the way to the terrifying conclusion. This one will definitely keep you up at night.”—Simone St. James, New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel
“[A] nail-biting, Gothic suspense novel.”—OK! Magazine
website
C. J. Cooke is an award-winning poet and novelist published in twenty-three languages. She teaches creative writing at the University of Glasgow, where she also researches the impact of motherhood on women's writing and creative writing interventions for mental health. C J Cooke (Carolyn Jess-Cooke) lives in Glasgow with her husband and four children. C J Cooke's works have been published in 23 languages and have won many awards. She holds a PhD in Literature from the Queen's University of Belfast and is currently Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she researches creative writing interventions for mental health. Two of her books are currently optioned for film.
