We are excited to welcome internationally bestselling novelist and poet C.J. Cooke to Pickering Book Tree to discuss her new book which is published on 22nd October.

The House of Cursed Daughters is a new feminist historical fantasy from the author of nineteen published books including The Last Witch, The Book of Witching, A Haunting in the Arctic, The Ghost Woods, The Lighthouse Witches, and The Nesting.

Carolyn takes inspiration from real women she discovers in detailed historical research, and her books have been critically acclaimed for their atmospheric use of time and place. Her previous historical fiction The Last Witch was praised as “a chilling, atmospheric novel” by the Sunday Times and “a vivid and haunting portrait of a real-life heroine, told in beautifully immersive prose” by Emilia Hart (author of The Sirens and Weyward).

We will chat with Carolyn about writing gothic suspense, her research to sensitively recreate historical people and places, and how she finds and develops compelling narratives while balancing truth and fiction through story.

The bookshop door will be open from 7pm and complementary drinks will be available until the event starts at 7.30pm.

The event is free to attend, but booking is essential. Please contact the shop or use the form below to reserve your seats.

We hope to see you there!

About the Book

Evil echoes down the centuries in a darkly compelling story that draws you in and keeps you totally transfixed. In three impeccably researched settings, C.J. Cooke creates strong female characters who are utterly relatable, even if they lived hundreds of years ago — Frances Quinn, That Bonesetter Woman

Three women. Seven centuries. One unbreakable blood curse…

It began in fire…
Paris, 1307. When eleven-year-old Princess Isabella of France watches four men burn at the stake, a dying knight curses her bloodline: love will destroy everything she holds dear.

It was forged in madness…
Bedlam, 1865. Lois wakes in Bedlam Asylum with no memory of who she is – only a precious red stone and the growing certainty that something ancient is hunting her.

Can it end before blood is spilled?
Present day. Artist Emma Harris arrives at a crumbling French château for her wedding and the exhibition of her life. But the walls remember everything, and something has followed her here.

Seven centuries of destruction. One woman left to fight.

A powerful, rage-filled novel of courage, sisterhood and female power inspired by a real witchcraft trial … Blisteringly brilliant — Anna Mazzola, The Book of Secrets, on The Last Witch

About the Author

C.J. Cooke is a poet and internationally bestselling Edgar and ITW nominated gothic novelist, who has been published in 23 languages.

Born in Belfast, C.J. has a PhD in Literature and teaches creative writing. She has been selected as a Waterstones’ Book of the Month and BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick.