The Ghost Woods

By: C. J. Cooke

Narrated by: Paula Masterton

A young woman sent to stay in a crumbling gothic manor will find haunting secrets creeping out of the surrounding dark woods in this new, chilling novel from the acclaimed author of The Lighthouse Witches.

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 on the grounds—and together they begin to unpack 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.

Critic reviews

“An eerie gothic thriller.”—Samantha Downing, USA Today bestselling author of A Twisted Love Story

“[C. J. Cooke is] a master of the feminist gothic!”—Katherine May, New York Times bestselling author of Enchantment


“Haunting.”—Sara Sheridan, author of The Secrets of Blythswood Square

"Intriguing, atmospheric, thought-provoking."—Alexandra Bell, author of The Winter Garden

"The Ghost Woods rattles along, with a twisty plot that defies expectations right from the start...Highly enjoyable."—Sally Hinchcliffe, author of Hare House

"Deliciously unsettling, strangely believable."—Carly Reagon, author of The Toll House

Women!

This book was absolutely amazing! I fell in love with all of the characters and loved the representation of the LGTBQ+ community in this time period.

Gorgeous, Gothic, Gripping - a must read/listen!

I’ve now listened to two C.J. Cooke novels back to back, which is incredibly rare for me, and what impressed me most is that each one completely stands on its own. They never feel repetitive, never like one is borrowing from the other, and certainly not like a retelling in disguise. Yes, Cooke writes gothic stories steeped in witches, the supernatural, and queer love, but each book feels fresh, atmospheric, and emotionally distinct. Her voice is consistent, but her stories are not recycled—they’re reinvented.

The narration is absolutely phenomenal. The narrator inhabits each character so fully and so convincingly that I genuinely believed there were two separate narrators. Only after looking it up did I realize it was one person performing all the voices, which speaks volumes about the range, subtlety, and emotional intelligence of the performance.

Listening from a modern perspective, some of the quieter, more constrained female characters initially frustrated me. But as the story unfolded, I had to step back and really sit with the historical context, their trauma, and the limited agency afforded to them. What at first felt like meekness revealed itself as survival, endurance, and deeply human vulnerability.

Overall, The Ghost Woods is haunting, immersive, beautifully written, and emotionally resonant. It’s the kind of story that wraps around you like fog in a dark forest—unsettling, seductive, and impossible to shake. Utterly gripping, gorgeously gothic, and so, so good.