The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke: Summary and Study Guide
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Quick Facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Author | C.J. Cooke |
| Publication Year | 2024 |
| Genre | Historical supernatural thriller with witchcraft and mystery elements |
| Setting | Orkney Islands, Scotland — dual timeline: 1594 and 2024 |
| Narrator | Third-person limited, alternating viewpoints (Alison, Clem, Edward, Erin) |
| Key Locations | Isle of Gunn (fictional), Fynhallow beach, Kirkwall, Glasgow |
| Central Artifact | The Book of Witching — a sentient, bark-bound book with black pages |
Short Summary
The Book of Witching interweaves two timelines in Orkney, Scotland. In 1594, Alison Balfour, a healer and mother, is falsely accused of witchcraft after refusing to make a death charm for John Stewart, Master of Orkney. Despite torture, the murder of her husband, and the torture of her children, she maintains her innocence until her six-year-old daughter is threatened. In 2024, Erin is found severely burned on Fynhallow beach after a Beltane ritual gone wrong; her boyfriend Arlo died in the fire. Erin's mother Clem investigates, uncovering the Triskele cult and the cursed Book of Witching — a sentient book that haunts its carriers and returns whenever discarded. As Clem traces the book's history, the novel draws parallels between historical witch hunts and modern cult manipulation, exploring maternal sacrifice, coercive control, and cyclical persecution.
Full Summary
The 1594 Timeline
The novel opens with a historical note establishing that Alison Balfour was executed in 1594 at Gallow Ha' in Kirkwall, the first of over seventy women executed for witchcraft in Orkney. A prologue presents a letter from Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney, to King James VI, in which he blames witchcraft for his illness and his brother John's plot to usurp the earldom.
In January 1594, Alison wakes to the smell of fire and finds her children missing from their beds. She follows the scent to the fairy glen, where the Triskele clan — the oldest clan of magic-wielders in Scotland — is initiating Edward and Beatrice as Carriers of The Book of Witching. The children scream into the book, signing it with their fear. Alison confronts her mother, who insists nobody leaves the Triskele and that the book will come for Alison.
In August, Alison travels to Kirkwall for her husband William's masonry work at the cathedral. John Stewart, Master of Orkney, requests a charm to take a life; Alison refuses, claiming she cannot make such a charm because she has witnessed death. In October, on Samhain, rebels gather and report Earl Patrick's abuses — high taxes, stolen land, enslavement, destroyed archives. Twelve days later, Alison is arrested on suspicion of witchcraft in the attempt on the earl's life.
Alison is imprisoned in Kirkwall Castle, stripped, and searched for Devil's marks. Father Colville finds a mark under her tongue. She is starved, sleep-deprived, and shown a hare-shaped shadow declared to be the Devil. Her trial proceeds with fabricated evidence, including a wax charm inscribed with the word