Three generations of women struggle with a curse unfairly placed on their ancestor in this gothic story of magic, queer love, and mother-daughter relationships, perfect for fans of Spells for Forgetting and Practical Magic.
The Cole women are cursed. Each generation will birth a daughter, lose their love, and, as surely as the tide beats against the rocky shore, take her own life by giving herself to the sea. For generations, the Cole women have lived as outcasts, maintaining a lighthouse on a small island off the coast of New Hampshire. Ever since their ancestor was accused of witchcraft and cast into the sea hundreds of years prior, the islanders have ostracized the Coles, distrusting their rumored magic and their control of the lighthouse.
Despite their mistreatment, the Cole women are compelled to remain on the island because they know that if a Cole woman does not light the beacon on Juniper Island, anyone who is out at sea will be drowned. Out of guilt and obligation, the Cole women live out their solitary lives on the island, knowing some day their recompense for protecting the people from the sea will be to die in the sea themselves.
Told in three interwoven timelines in the late 20th century, The Curse of the Cole Women unravels the lives of three women who struggle with their relationships with each other as they contend with the reality of their fates – is it truly a curse, or is it generational madness that drives Cole women to the sea?
Readers will be swept into this evocative and moving story about challenging misogyny, finding community, and struggling with fate.
coming December 2 2025
“Thompson (The Last Witch in Edinburgh) spins a haunting gothic tale of generational trauma, misogyny, and the blurred line between madness and magic…Each struggles under the weight of inherited duty and community ostracism while yearning for love and belonging. This nonlinear structure creates a sense of inevitability as they hurtle toward their fates. Thompson’s prose vividly evokes the New Hampshire coast and captures the fraught intimacy of mother-daughter bonds, while successfully balancing the gothic and the psychological, calling into question whether the curse is really supernatural or the product of generational wounds… the emotional thrust of the Coles’ story—particularly Mabel’s tender romance and Simone’s reckoning with her heritage—is poignant and impactful. This atmospheric exploration of sorrow and resilience will resonate with fans of Practical Magic and Spells for Forgetting.” – Publisher’s Weekly
“A heartbreakingly tender family saga spanning three generations of formidable women, touched with a luminous, melancholic grace. Thompson’s transportive words will sweep you along on a journey of unquiet yearning, loss, and the redemptive power of love. The Curse of the Cole Women is a gothic tour de force.” – Paulette Kennedy, bestselling author of The Devil and Mrs. Davenport
“An ancient lighthouse on a tiny island is kept by a long line of women who are plagued not only by an elusive curse but by a population who routinely shuns them. This intense and haunting multigenerational saga asks whether we can ever escape our family history or whether we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of our past. Atmospheric, lush and evocative, The Curse of the Cole Women will captivate readers and have them longing for a day by the sea.” —Lynda Cohen Loigman, U.S.A Today Bestselling author of The Matchmaker’s Gift and The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
“Lush, lyrical, and laced with foreboding, The Curse of the Cole Women is a gothic triumph—a haunting tale of inherited grief, forbidden love, and the quiet rebellion of women who refuse to be bound by fate. As questions about the origin of a curse begin to surface, so too does a dangerous truth: perhaps the true threat isn’t magic—but what people are willing to believe about women who live on their own terms. Perfect for fans of The Lighthouse Witches and Practical Magic, The Curse of the Cole Women will pull you under and not let go.” – Constance Sayers, author of A Witch in Time
“A layered, multi-generational novel full of intriguing women and the way curses, mental health, and love weave their way into our lives. Readers will be swept away by the complicated community of Juniper Island, and the intriguing and varying ways the Cole women have interacted with it and passed trauma along across generations. Full of poignancy and hope, The Curse of the Cole Women is a gripping and moving read that will stick with readers long after they put it down.” – Hazel Beck, author of Small Town Big Magic
“An evocative and beautifully written story of a quiet yet dangerous power passed down through generations of women. Thompson expertly twines themes of mental health, generational trauma, and the healing power of love, all set on the rough and salty shores of an island filled with small town intrigue.” – Hester Fox, author of A Lullaby For Witches
Marielle Thompson 