After The Nesting and The Lighthouse Witches, CJ Cooke became one of my favourite writers for atmospheric and spooky reads based on real regional mythology, and I always feel like I learn so much from her books.
The Ghost Woods is no exception. Creepy setting, mysterious mushrooms and characters you really root for.
Loved it!!
This is a perfect read for Halloween time…

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

The Ghost Woods - C.J.Cooke

𝘿𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙖 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚.
𝘼 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨.
𝙊𝙛 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨, 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙.
𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙧…

Intrigued? So was I!
Last year I read The Lighthouse Witches and was fully immersed in the fantastically creepy story, so when I saw C.J.Cooke a new book coming out, I knew I had to read it.
The Ghost Woods is set in a huge, dilapidated house in the wilds of Scotland. The house owners take in unmarried teenagers, in the days when unmarried young women were still frowned upon, and offers them the chance to finish their pregnancies and give birth there. Lichen Hall also offers to find adoptive parents so that the girls are worry-free.
But this is a gothic novel, so not everything is as it seems!!
Mrs Whitlock has a most strange personality, one minute kind and sympathetic, the next, harsh, uncaring and disturbing.
And then there’s the link to the sinister folklore of Nicnevin, an ancient Scottish witch, how does that affect the Hall now?
We follow two girls paths to Lichen Hall and their stories there, Mabel in 1959 and Pearl in 1965, they are both aware of a sinister being in the nearby woods, nicknamed The Ghost Woods, we switch between the two narratives to see how their lives intertwine. (I’m not going to reveal anymore as I’m avoiding giving spoilers.)
I love dual timelines and narratives, I truly think they are the perfect storytelling format.
I flew through the book, the characters are so well written, I couldn’t put the book down, I read the physical book during the day and the kindle edition at bedtime.
The Ghost Woods is an atmospheric, dark fairylore novel and I urge you to read it!
It’s released today, go snap it up!!

I loved loved loved this book! Finished it over a month ago and I still can’t stop thinking about it. CJ Cooke has created a gothic, enchanting and gripping world I didn’t want to leave! It’s written in such a way yoI don’t want put it down.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC, but mostly thank you CJ. Cooke for the story.

Rating: 5/5 stars

“I have a ghost in my knee. There’s a small pocket just behind the kneecap and she’s hiding in there, all tucked up in the soft mattresses of cartilage. She is very small and terrified so I’m sitting with that leg straightened so I don’t disturb her. I’ve not set a word about this to anyone. They’d think I’m mad.”

I don’t think I’ve read a more perfect opening-line to a gothic horror novel in long time, and The Ghost Woods only got better from that point on. An overgrown house in the woods, whispered legends of ghosts and witchcraft, a child who isn’t quite a child, and a pregnant woman sent to give birth amidst it all. If you’re still looking for your perfect Halloween-read, look no further because this is my definitive recommendation for 2022.

The Story
Told in dual timelines, The Ghost Woods follows two young, pregnant women’s time at Lichen Hall; an remote gothic manor in the woods that serves as a safe haven for unwed women to give birth and potentially offer up their new-borns for adoption. In 1959, 17-year old Mabel is shocked and confounded by her condition; how could she be pregnant, while she knows she’s never had sex? It must be due to the ghosts that inhabit her body…
In 1965, 22-year old nurse Pearl lost everything after the “shame” of her pre-marital pregnancy got around town. Desperate, and knowing she won’t be able to take care of the baby, she turns to Lichen Hall for help.
Both women soon find Lichen Hall not as safe a haven as the had hoped. Mould festers within the walls, strange apparitions lurk in the surrounding woods and the caretakers and inhabitant of the manor all seem privy to bouts of strange behaviour. Whether that be Mrs Whitlock insistence of “no medical intervention” surrounding the pregnancies, her husband’s collapse into dementia, or the strange boy with a precocious interest in mycology and botany.
Both women’s stories eventually collide to unearth the secrets at the roots of Lichen Hall.

What I liked
I’ve been a C.J. Cooke fan ever since The Nesting and The Lighthouse Witches. Both are gothic thriller/horror novels that combine a taught mystery, interesting characters and strong themes of motherhood, and both showcase the authors pension for creating unsettling imagery and vivid atmosphere perfectly. The Ghost Woods follows perfectly as the third entry in this “spiritual trilogy”, and might be my favourite thus far. On a surface level, you have a creepy tale that plays with many of the familiar tropes in horror (witches, ghosts, haunted houses, Scottish folklore etc.) and takes inspiration from the classics (Hill House, The Fall of the House of Usher, Frankenstein…). On a deeper level, there’s a far more disturbing and emotional story of the price of motherhood, memory, trauma and the (medical) mistreatment of women in our not too distant history. (view spoiler) It’s this subtle interweaving of “layers of horror” and emotion that sets a great horror novel apart from the bunch. I was not only on the edge of my seat, intrigued, excited and thrilled from beginning to end, but I also had plenty of food for thought left long after I’d closed the final chapter.

What I didn’t like
You could argue that the reveal at the end requires some suspension of disbelieve, that I can see might put some readers off. Throughout the story we’re constantly questioning whether the events at Lichen Hall are natural or supernatural in nature and the ending ultimately doesn’t quite fit neatly into either box. Because of the great set up, I was completely able to suspend my disbelieve towards the ending, but I can see it being point of contention for some.
Overall, I highly recommend The Ghost Woods , especially as a companion on a dark and gloomy autumnal night.

Many thanks to Harper Collins UK for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved 'The Lighthouse Witches', so I was excited to read another book by the same author.

'The Ghost Woods' tell the stories of two unmarried girls, who are both sent to Lichen Hall on the borders of Scotland, to give birth to their babies in the 1950s and 60s. (The story is told in two timelines which eventually converge.) Mabel has always been haunted by ghosts living under her skin, and when she finds she is pregnant she doesn't know how it happened. Several years later, Pearl arrives at Lichen House to give birth to her baby - the result of a one night stand after she was betrayed and abandoned by her long-time boyfriend. Pearl is a nurse, more confident and pragmatic than Mabel, and becomes suspicious about the strange behaviour the lady of the house and the rumours of strange happenings in the woods around Lichen Hall.

CJ Cooke skilfully blends the very real and chilling historical trauma of young unwed pregnant women being reviled, sent away and having their babies torn from them, with the classic gothic horror of a mysterious house beset by supernatural terror. A vividly imagined, horribly unsettling tale, perfect for fans of 'Mexican Gothic'.

A dark tale about a house where unmarried pregnant women are taken in and their babies later adopted.  Lichen Hall is an old manor house in the Scottish borders.  The house has seen better days, a large part of it is closed off due to mold spores that are slowly eating the place up.  And there are superstitious about the surrounding woods that are said to contain something evil...
The story is quite creepy at times and there are a few parts that are genuinely suspenseful, but for some reason I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as I did the author's previous two novels.  But this is still a decent read, with great characters and I would certainly recommend it for fans of Gothic, supernatural fiction. 3.5 stars

C.J. Cooke writes fabulously creepy gothic thrillers which usually have a legend or some kind of folklore at their heart. This is her third book, and my favourite so far!

In the middle of the woods stands a house named Lichen Hall, where unmarried young women go to have their babies before handing them over for adoption. Pearl Gorham arrives in 1965 and soon realises things are not quite as they seem. Who is the mysterious little boy who roams the house, who everyone denies exists? What's with all the toadstools and the fires in the forest? And is there really something evil lurking in the woods?

First of all, there are no ghosts in this story but there is a definite evil 'something' that gives this superbly written gothic historical that extra chill factor. Clever and very original, I loved the growing relationships between the women and how they learnt to stop being so suspicious of each other and work together to solve the mystery of what was really happening at Lichen Hall. There are lots of surprising twists and the background information about toadstools was fascinating!

One of my favourite books this year. Would suit any reader looking for an original twist on the gothic historical genre and fans of authors such as Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Mexican Gothic).

Thank you to C.J. Cooke and HarperCollins for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

The Ghost Woods by C. J. Cooke is an atmospheric and intriguing story with Autumnal vibes that make it perfect reading for this time of year.
Lichen Hall stands alone in the midst of a dark and forbidding forest which is rumoured to be the home of ghosts and witches and all kinds of creatures, and the owners of the house, the Whitlock family have let it fall into disrepair following the death of their son. By 1965, when the book opens, it has become a place where young women are sent in secrecy and disgrace to give birth to children conceived outside the societally accepted bounds of matrimony . Pearl is one such young woman, a nurse who makes a foolish decision following a breakup and now finds herself alone and without even the prospect of a career to return to following her "disgrace".
From the moment of her arrival at Lichen Hall she feels like something about the place is off, and as she meets the home's owners and staff her fears only deepen. It seems to be impossible to get a straight answer from anyone, and as a trained nurse she is appalled to learn that no medical staff attend the women giving birth. It is only when she meets a young boy and his mother in the grounds of the Hall that she starts to get some answers about the place and its residents, but what she learns will only endanger her further.
The book has two converging timelines, the "present day" mid 1960s and the past which begins in the late 1950's before catching up to the present timeline, and there are two point of view characters, Pearl and Maude., each of whom have an interesting story which will intersect in a dramatic and emotional way.
This was a genuinely disturbing book, it really set me on edge while reading and I have to admire the author's skill in creating such a chilling and atmospheric setting. There is an obvious thread of body horror running through the book and I thought that they way the author incorporated issues like female body autonomy and the power of the patriarchy was masterful.. There were elements of folklore woven into the the story that added another layer of interest as I was reading.
This is a great gothic horror that I would recommend to fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic or this author's previous books like The Lighthouse Witches and The Nesting.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This is pure reading bliss for Halloween season replete with gothic horror, secrets and folklore. There are two protagonists, Mabel whose story is set in 1959, and Pearl – her story is set in 1965 and is the opener to the mystery of Mabel.

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For twenty-first century readers the notion of women being sent away to have babies in secret full of guilt and shame is chilling enough, the horrors of these institutions lately exposed and already trickled into contemporary folklore. Then the author adds another layer, the mystery of the supernatural.

The descriptive prose depict intense emotive scenes of childbirth and loss, yet written in such a compelling way, the story is richer for it. Even more so is the story behind these babies, the power of the patriarchy, a society in which women were seen as second class citizens (arguably this is still the case) and unless in wedlock, full of sin and shame. A true horror story.

Themes include: shame, guilt, patriarchy, unwanted pregnancy, manipulation, exploitation, abandonment, grief, loss, love, trust, supernatural, fungi, folklore.

I highly recommend this second novel by C.J. Wood.

This was the second book I read by C. J. Cooke and once more I was not disappointed..!

A great story about social and important issues, with interesting characters. I loved the eerie feeling and the gothic background!

A perfect book for a dark rainy afternoon..!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review!

The Ghost Woods by C.J. Cooke.
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. Praise for The Ghost Woods . . .
I really really enjoyed this book. Dark and twisted. Haunting too. 5*.

This is my second C.J. Cooke book and I am obsessed! I love the gothic, spooky vibes from this story.

This story turned out to have way more depth than I expected. At first I just expected a spooky tale but the story touched on so many issues like women's bodily autonomy (something which is particularly relevant right now), stigmas around pregnancy and having children, the expectations placed on women by society, being part of the LQBTQ+ community, and so much more.

The story was a little confusing at first with the shifting of timeliness but I quickly wrapped my head around it. It was wonderful watching this story unravel as I tried to make predictions for what would happen next. It really kept me on my toes right up to the last page!

This was a perfect spooky season read and I'm definitely going to be picking up the rest of this author's books.

Dundee, 1959 and Mabel Haggith is seventeen years old and pregnant. She claims she’s never had sex but she has ghosts inside her so maybe they’re to blame. She is packed off to Lichen Hall where she will have her baby and give it up for adoption. Six years later Pearl, 22 and a nurse, is heavily pregnant upon her arrival to the crumbling estate.

Lichen Hall is an old Manor House in the Scottish Borders owned by the Whitlock family. There are stories of strange happenings in this place and of a curse placed by Nicnevin, a fairy queen who stalks the nearby woods. Pearl can sense that something is not quite right but no one will talk about the mysterious boy she sees running around or the fact that Mrs Whitlock sometimes seems like a different person.

This is such an atmospheric book and CJ Cooke manages to create a suspenseful and unsettling gothic tale. Motherhood and what it was like to be pregnant and unwed is a big theme here and I loved the way Cooke explored different reactions from the women. The lack of choices these women faced was frightening and what was even more frustrating was that some were in that position due to rape.

The characters are so easy to empathise with and Pearl stood out for me due to her intelligence, determination and compassion for others. The storyline involving Mabel took a direction I really wasn’t expecting which meant that I enjoyed it all the more.

After reading and loving Cooke’s previous book The Lighthouse Witches I was eagerly anticipating this one and it did not let me down.

Okay, I’ll admit it, I was officially creeped out by this book. It is set in the late 1950s - mid 1960s in Scotland where being an unwed mother and her unfortunate illegitimate child was still very much a stigma. We’ve all heard of the horrific Magdalen laundries which only closed down far too recently for any reasonable person’s thinking. In this story, Lichen House, a truly massive gothic mansion in a remote Scottish location abutting some very dense woods seemed like a humane alternative for many families. The house has a dark past but we don’t believe in witches and ghosts - do we?

Mrs Whitlock runs the house now. Her older husband, who is obsessed with fungi and the symbiotic relationship between some fungi and animals, is slowly developing dementia so his actions are somewhat erratic. Mrs Whitlock herself is alternately charming and friendly and then cold and mean. Also living there is their grandson, Wulfric, another very strange individual. Into this weird environment the young, pregnant women arrive. Some of them do not stand a chance.

There is no midwife, they must fend for themselves. When a problem arises no doctor is called. The red flags are already flapping madly in the wind! The story focuses on Mabel, Pearl, Morwen, Rahmi and Aretta.
Mabel feels she has ghosts inhabiting her body and her baby, Sylvan, is rejected by the couple that comes to adopt him after only a few days. Mabel is happy to have him back but struggles to make a life for them in a crude shack on the grounds of Lichen House. Sylvan is indeed a very different child, he has ‘the sight’ and can see things that others can’t.

Pearl is the last of these women to arrive and she tries to help them as she is a qualified nurse. But it is all too little and too late for most of the residents. This would be a perfect Halloween read - spooky but not violent per se. The story is very gothic and unsettling and quite mysterious.

Do read the author’s notes at the end of the story. She has successfully explored the themes of motherhood, the different views of it, women’s equality and rights and the freedom to choose their own se*uality. Many thanks to Netgalley for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

CJ Cooke writes my favourite kind of thriller— gothic, a little paranormal, and using the narrative to critique societal issues. The Ghost Woods was no different and I found the plot and characters refreshing and immersive.

Set in dual timelines, 1959 and 1956 respectively, the story follows two women at a home for unwed mothers. The Lichen House on the Scottish Borders offers a place for women to escape the shame that their pregnancy has brought upon them. The two POVs, Mabel and Pearl, both find themselves at the home years apart. Though they come from different family and life circumstances, they’re united in their shared independence and belief that something about about the Lichen House is *definitely* not right.

As both of their pregnancies reach their date, the plot is simultaneously unwinding to a folkloric, creepy head, involving Scottish legend and family secrets. As the dual timeline dates draw closer and closer, leading to Mabel and Pearl finally meeting, I found myself at the edge of my seat and racing towards the end. I loved the gothic atmosphere and found the paranormal elements to be right up my alley (mushrooms are always a great villain).

Perfect for fans of VE Schwab’s Gallant and Silvia Moreno Garcia’s Mexican Gothic, The Ghost Woods will appeal to readers looking for a pacey, gothic thriller for their autumnal TBR. A great addition by CJ Cooke and has more than proved to me how much I love her work!

The Ghost Woods by C.J. Cooke

Set in Scotland the book opens in 1959 with Mabel and then a skip forward a fee years to Pearl in 1965. Both women have been sent to the infamous Lichen Hall in The Scottish Borders to give birth in relative secrecy, to avoid the shame and judgment from society that comes with being unwed and pregnant in those times. And, of course not all is what it seems, Lichen Hall along with its inhabitants are hiding secrets, something dark lingers in its halls and stirs within The Ghost Woods and it soon becomes clear that once you enter Lichen Hall you may never leave....

This book is gloriously gothic! Dark and enticing, cloaked in folklore and quite simply the perfect autumn read!

Witches, ghosts, a big old creepy house and a multi timeline/POV mystery that quite simply had me hooked instantly.

I absolutely loved The Lighthouse Witches, devoured The Nesting and this one has me declaring myself officially this authors biggest fan! Her writing style is so dreamy and delicious and C.J Cooke has completely stolen my book loving heart.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins Publishing for my advanced copy of this book to read and review before publication date on 13/10/22

I loved The Nesting and The Lighthouse Witches so I was really looking forward to this next book.

It being “spooky season”, it’s a perfect time for it to be released. As usual, the writing is fantastic and atmospheric, I was very invested in all of the characters, even though Pearl and Mabel are the key players (or so the chapter headers have us believe!)

The story has a lot going on, shame, forbidden love, friendship, and of course, ghosts, creatures, and incredible sadness.

Overall, if you’re a fan, then this book will not disappoint. If you’re not a fan, then you should be!

My thanks to Netgalley. My review is based on an advance copy that I received from the publisher.

One of my favourite reads last Halloween was The Lighthouse Witches, and author C.J. Cooke has done it again with her latest release, The Ghost Woods.

This was another perfect read for the spooky season! There is witchcraft, fairies, zombies, creepy children, a remote house, gruesome body horror, tales of folklore, and a tense gothic vibe, all set alongside themes of feminism, motherhood, and nature. What more could you want?

Atmospheric and mysteriously alluring, The Ghost Woods is a beautifully obscure and fantastical gothic historical fiction full of imagination and dark curiosity.

So much about the story kept drawing me in - the setting, the characters, the research that went into making everything seem authentic - I wanted to visit every part of the house and grounds and question every character about their past to find out everything going on. Because you definitely won't have read a story like this before, and Cooke does a fantastic job of bringing the wildness of nature indoors (literally).

Set in the puzzling Lichen Hall and told through two timelines, the past (1959) and present (1965), there's a lot to uncover, but I definitely couldn't predict what was behind it all. I was gripped throughout, as the compelling characters who come together in their desperation helped lead me through this maze of peculiarities.

The themes of sexuality, gender equality, and motherhood are explored brilliantly in both the setting and time period, showing how we have progressed in certain areas but also discussing the different ways in which a woman's body can often not feel like their own.

There is so much to love about this book and it was easily a five-star read for me. It's the perfect read over the autumn months and C.J. Cooke is most definitely an author I now get excited about!

The Ghost Woods is told from two viewpoints and alternates between two timelines. The main characters, Mabel in 1959 and Pearl in 1965 are unmarried mothers sent to live at the isolated Lichen Hall. It is immediately apparent that all is not well in this unsettling house.

The author has a real gift for creating a compelling atmosphere which draws the reader deeply into the story. The writing is so skilful and imaginative. The characters and their relationships are very well developed. The mystery of the story is laced with folklore and mythology. This is a novel which is impossible to put down. A really rewarding read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchage for an honest review.

Set over two quite close time lines - 1959 and 1965 - Pearl arrives at Lichen Hall in the Borders - a private establishment, rather than an institution, for unmarried, pregnant women. They give birth to their babies and they are adopted by childless couples. The young women then leave and go back to their own lives. But this establishment is so much more than this. There are secrets; there is witchcraft; there is evil.
This is so well written - atmospheric, well drawn characters, the shame of pregnancy out of wedlock, female relationships. Compulsive reading.
Many thanks to Netgalley/C.J. Cooke/HarperCollins UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.