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Witchings with C.J. Cooke, Cat Hellisen and Francesca May

  • Pleasance 60 Pleasance Edinburgh, Scotland, EH8 9TQ United Kingdom (map)

Be prepared to fall under the spell of these three writers!

In C.J. Cooke’s The Lighthouse Witches, Luna’s life is forever changed when her two sisters and mother disappear during their stay on a remote Scottish lighthouse. Twenty years later, Luna's missing sister turns up out of the blue. She is exactly the girl Luna remembers. Same face. Same smile. Same age. Faced with the impossible, it's up to Luna to find out what really happened at the lighthouse all those years ago.

Cat Hellisen’s Cast Long Shadows reimagines the Evil Stepmother in Snow White. A replacement bride, the shadow of the dead and perfect wife, the mother of a step-daughter she'd never planned for. What if she was never a witch, what if it is all a lie? Meet Marjeta Petrell and find out.

In Francesca May’s debut novel Wild and Wicked Things, where illicit magic is hiding among its decadent inhabitants. Annie Mason never expected her enigmatic new neighbour to be a witch, but when she witnesses a confrontation between her best friend Bea and the infamous Emmeline Delacroix, Annie is drawn into a world where magic can buy what money cannot.

This event is chaired by Stephanie Goulden

About the event

Running time: 60 minutes

Venue: Pleasance Theatre

Price: £10/£8 concession - In Person - or £6/£4 concession - Live Stream - (plus 50p booking fee)

This event takes place in person and is broadcast via live stream.


About the author

CJ Cooke wrote her first book aged seven. A few decades later, her work is published in 23 languages, has won numerous awards, and has been optioned for film and television. She writes about motherhood, climate change, and trauma. Her fiction is often classed as gothic and/or psychological suspense, but she’s not really bothered about genre. Her 2021 novel, The Lighthouse Witches, was nominated for an Edgar Award and an ITW Thriller Award, and is an international bestseller.

Follow CJ Cooke on Twitter @CJessCooke or visit her website.

Cat Hellisen writes weird, lush speculative fiction for adults and children. They are the author of several novels, including When the Sea is Rising Red and Beastkeeper, and their short fiction and poetry have appeared in various magazines and anthologies, including Tor.com, Apex Magazine, Shimmer and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Their favourite writers are Ursula K Le Guin, Margaret Atwood, Tanith Lee and Clive Barker, though they love discovering new writers of the fantastical.

Follow Cat Hellisen on Twitter @Cat_Hellisen or visit their website.

Francesca May grew up in the middle of England where she spent her childhood devouring fantasy books and brewing potions in her back garden. She currently lives in Derby with her family, three giant dogs, and two black cats. By day she works as a bookseller at Waterstones. By night she accidentally kills every house plant she touches and writes novels about gothic mansions, witchcraft, and queer love.

Follow Francesca May on Twitter @FranWritesStuff or visit her website.