{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DYZ5YXJS?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"B0DYZ5YXJS","authors":["Marielle Thompson"],"book_id":"9798892423809","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/the-curse-of-the-cole-women-9798892423809","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9798892423809.jpg?v=1ce9220ddf75550a","description":"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 someday 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 twentieth 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.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9798892423809","publication_date":"20251202","publisher":"CROOKED LANE BOOKS","slug":"the-curse-of-the-cole-women","subtitle":"A Novel","title":"The Curse of the Cole Women"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"FIC027440","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Witch Romance","score":0.7803,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC027300","confidence_band":"medium","label":"LGBTQ+ Romance","score":0.7658,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC027210","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Lesbian Romance","score":0.7651,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"FIC027440","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Witch Romance","score":0.7803,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC027300","confidence_band":"medium","label":"LGBTQ+ Romance","score":0.7658,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"FIC027210","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Lesbian Romance","score":0.7651,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"FIC018000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Lesbian Fiction","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FIC027440","confidence_band":"high","label":"Witch Romance","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FIC080000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Multiple-Timeline Fiction","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Witch Romance","score":0.7803,"slug":"witch-romance"},{"label":"LGBTQ+ Romance","score":0.7658,"slug":"lgbtq-romance"},{"label":"Lesbian Romance","score":0.7651,"slug":"lesbian-romance"}],"reader_fit":["For readers drawn to gothic stories of magic and queer love","For readers interested in mother-daughter relationships across generations"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Paige Crutcher"],"book_id":"9781250905543","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781250905543.jpg?v=8e70fa41fc737a53","score":0.7628,"title":"A Circle of Uncommon Witches","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781250905543"},{"authors":["Liz Parker"],"book_id":"9798892421997","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9798892421997.jpg?v=8d66653d035cd253","score":0.7491,"title":"Witches of Honeysuckle House","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9798892421997"},{"authors":["Nicole Jarvis"],"book_id":"9781835410943","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781835410943.jpg?v=b84d79ad3fa31502","score":0.7361,"title":"A Spell for Change","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781835410943"},{"authors":["Sarah Penner"],"book_id":"9780778308003","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780778308003.jpg?v=b5a34aa5f689d954","score":0.7159,"title":"The Amalfi Curse","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780778308003"},{"authors":["Margaret Killjoy","Jackie Meloche","Dreamscape Lore","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9781558613317","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781558613317.jpg?v=09dad447f2536823","score":0.7129,"title":"The Sapling Cage","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781558613317"},{"authors":["Ann Rose","Sarah Beth Goer","Imani Jade Powers","Penguin Audio"],"book_id":"9780593815977","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593815977.jpg?v=a65fa6c6bfc954fd","score":0.7065,"title":"A Hexcellent Chance to Fall in Love","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593815977"},{"authors":["Wallis Kinney"],"book_id":"9798892423298","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9798892423298.jpg?v=1c1cbe88ef2928cd","score":0.7052,"title":"A Dark and Secret Magic","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9798892423298"},{"authors":["Tori Anne Martin"],"book_id":"9780823460359","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780823460359.jpg?v=02161e021da38a99","score":0.7045,"title":"No Charm Done","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780823460359"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:novels"],"label":"Novels","score":0.152,"slug":"novels"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:literary fiction"],"label":"Literary","score":0.0312,"slug":"literary"},{"evidence_refs":["phrase_map_match"],"label":"Short Stories","score":0.0216,"slug":"short-story"},{"evidence_refs":["phrase_map_match"],"label":"Book Club","score":0.0215,"slug":"book-club"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Misogyny, Finding community, Fate and family relationships.","Story elements: Generational curse, Isolated island community.","Themes: Literary, Short Stories, Book Club."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.91,"pacing":"unknown","reader_fit":["For readers drawn to gothic stories of magic and queer love","For readers interested in mother-daughter relationships across generations"],"themes":["Misogyny","Finding community","Fate and family relationships"],"tropes":["Generational curse","Isolated island community"]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":15,"goodreads_ratings_count":225,"goodreads_reviews_count":112,"quality_score":0.9065}}