C J Cooke is one of my new favourites for all things suspense, gothic and folklore. The Ghost Woods was such a tense read from start to finish but in that way that you can’t help but thoroughly enjoy how it’s making you feel!
Close by ancient woodlands on the Scottish Borders stands Lichen Hall, a sprawling 16th-Century manor. These woods are shrouded in local folklore with tales of ghosts, witches, fairy queens, and of a child who is not quite a child. Intrigued? You should be.
The way that this book unravels and the secrets that come out… it’s just put together in the best possible way, in the most eery of settings, with a cast of chilling and mysterious characters. There’s superstition, a dark dark woods, horror, folklore, and so much more. C J Cooke weaves themes and traditions into gripping storylines and transports readers to secluded but beautiful locations.
About the Book
In the midst of the woods stands a house called Lichen Hall.
This place is shrouded in folklore – old stories of ghosts, of witches, of a child who is not quite a child.
Now the woods are creeping closer, and something has been unleashed.
Pearl Gorham arrives in 1965, one of a string of young women sent to Lichen Hall to give birth. And she soon suspects the proprietors are hiding something.
Then she meets the mysterious mother and young boy who live in the grounds – and together they begin to unpick the secrets of this place.
As the truth comes to the surface and the darkness moves in, Pearl must rethink everything she knew – and risk what she holds most dear.
About The Author
C.J. Cooke is an acclaimed, award-winning poet, novelist and academic with numerous other publications written under the name of Carolyn Jess-Cooke. Her work has been published in twenty-three languages to date. Born in Belfast, C.J. has a PhD in Literature from Queen’s University, Belfast, and is currently Reader in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she researches creative writing interventions for mental health. C.J. Cooke lives in Glasgow with her husband and four children.
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