I was absolutely elated that I was given the opportunity to read and review this book. There is definitely credence to the hype surrounding this book.

Hannah Owens lived in a small glade, Devotion Field, in Essex County England. In January of 1664, she found an abandoned baby and took her in - Maria. Here they form a bond of mother and daughter and taught her the ways of the Nameless Art.

Once she was old enough to have a book of her own (Grimoire), Hannah had told her the rules of magic:
"Do as you will, but harm no one.
What you will give will be returned to you threefold."

By the summer of 1674, Maria's birth mother came to Hannah for help; a love potion that needed undoing. But Hannah's help came at a price that cost Hannah. Fleeing with her mother, Maria ends up on a ship and sent to Curacao to work off her price of passage. Here she meets John Hawthorne, who will change her fate in more ways than one.

"... she knew early on that love would either be a blessing or a curse."

I loved the journey Maria traversed. The ups and the downs. How the family curse for loving an Owen's woman came to be and how taking a dark path can lead to consequences. And how sometimes, pushing things/people away will not stop the outcome. You should definitely give this a read.

Over the years I have read all of Alice Hoffman’s books dealing with “practical Magic” and the descendants of Maria Owens and enjoyed them. This book was a standout for me. Maybe it is because this is where it all begins and her treatment of her characters is so complete.

Acknowledging that there is “no magic as coveted or as effective as that which used words” Ms. Hoffman has bested herself. The magic on the pages is real. She is a gifted and skillful writer who kept me entranced for over 400 pages. Whether describing the murder of a loved one which a small child is forced to watch or fighting with her heart and her love of an ordinary man, her grasp of the basic emotions is mesmerizing.

Hoffman sums up the book perfectly in the last 4 sentences:
“Read as many books as you can. Always chose courage. Never watch another woman burn. Know that love is the only answer.”

Thank you Simon & Schuster & NetGalley for a copy.

I love this book. Like … my favorite out of the three books in the series LOVE. Like … I’ve already read it twice this year LOVE. I love the clever magical recipes featured in the book. I love the storyline. I love the characters. I just adore it.

Alice Hoffman has been a new-ish find for me, and I devour her books now as quickly as I can get them in my hands. Her writing voice reminds me a little of Isabel Allende, who excels at creating a mystique, an aura of magic and mystery in her books. Her choice of third person omniscient point o view makes the reader feel like you are reading a genealogy or history of real people. It is easy to become completely attached to the characters. This is a real skill as an author. I recently read another book of her short stories, The Red Garden, and I felt grieved to move on from one story to another when I’d already made such a strong connection to the people in the story I was reading. This book feels the same way.

This is a book about love. “Is this love?” is a question that the Maria asks of herself over and over in the book. The truth is, yes, it’s all love. The love that props you up and gives you a home. The love for and from a child. The twisted/obsessive kind of love that can tear you down. The many kinds of love that drive women to Maria’s back door in the deep of night asking for charms to smooth their way. You experience all these different kinds of love, while the book reminds you that the love you put out into the world comes back to you in the end.

“This is how you begin in the world. These are the lessons to be learned. Drink chamomile tea to calm the spirit. Feed a cold and starve a fever. Read as many books as you can. Always choose courage. Never watch another woman burn. Know that love is the only answer.”

I enjoyed this book very much, even more than the other two books in the series. I re-read all three this month because it is finally turning into fall, and Halloween is coming. If you’re looking for a witchy read then I can’t recommend this book more.

Song for this book: Dreams by Fleetwood Mac (I mean it has to be Stevie Nick’s right?)

This is a tough review to give because as a fan of Alice Hoffman and having loved Practical Magic, it is disappointing for me to say I just could not get into this book. The first part of the book was soooo slow and although it picked up a little more during the second part, it was just a struggle to read. I've always loved Alice Hoffman's books, but her last few have just not appealed to me. Although I did finish it, I just didn't enjoy it and found I just didn't care about the story or the characters. Thanks to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors. Any book she writes is automatically added to my to-read pile. It was a no-brainer to request this ARC.

Practical Magic, the first book in this series is not my favorite Hoffman novel. I enjoyed The Rules of Magic much more. I think Magic Lessons falls somewhere in between.

Where did the Owens family get its start? In Magic Lessons we follow the life of Owens matriarch, Maria, and her daughter Faith. In a very dangerous time for witches, they aim to be true to themselves, sometimes at great cost.

Hoffman has a way with words. Some of her phrasing is truly beautiful. But I feel like this time there was just too much focus on the natural world and not enough on the characters. By the end of the novel, I still felt like I barely knew Maria. It was as if she kept me at arms length. And I really felt like Faith’s arc was abrupt. Unfortunately, I felt more connected to the trees and herbs than I did to the people.

Despite this flaw, Hoffman’s story is a good one. The history is fascinating and Hoffman creates an atmospheric and credible setting. I enjoyed reading Magic Lessons; I just wanted more out of it than I got.

Magic Lessons gets 3.5 stars rounded up to four. Fans of Hoffman, and the Practical Magic series in particular will enjoy this book.

This book was hard for me to write a review for. Not the rating because every time I needed to put the book down I couldn't wait to get back to it. That alone makes it a solid four star in my opinion.
What made it hard is to write a review without it been a synopsis of the story, for that you can just read what the publisher wrote.
First this is fiction while making some use of historical events such as the Witch trials in Salem Massachusetts. The story differentiates between two kinds of witches. First we have the ones that are considered witches because they use their knowledge of nature (plants, weather, insects etc...) for healing of various ailments or conditions. Second we have the real witches that are born witches through their bloodline.
We see a mother in despair abandon her newborn girl in the hope she will be taking care of by Hannah Owens. We see how love spells can backfire. There is good and bad magic. Bad magic will always take a toll on whoever practices it.
We see how greed and jalousie can make almost any person evil. How been overly religious can bring somebody to do the most horrible deed in the name of serving their God.
The selfishness of some men in a patriarchal world who doesn’t have much regards for the woman in their lives. The suffering of the woman in these situations and looking for help in whatever manner they can.
We even learn that a Grimoire full of bad dangerous magic could be used for good if it was in the right hands so nothing ends up been just black and white.
This is not usual type of reading but I loved the story.

Magic Lessons, The Prequel to Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: General Fiction (Adult)
Release Date: October 6, 2020

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman is the prequel to the book Practical Magic.

Magic Lessons is captivating and wonderful and raw and everything I could have hoped for in the Owens origin story.

Alice Hoffman writes in such a way that you are transported into the story and never want to leave.

I laughed, I cried, I lost my heart to this story. This was so much more than I could have imagined! This is such a powerful story about love and magic.

This is my favorite passage: "These are the lessons to be learned. Drink chamomile tea to calm the spirt. Feed a cold and stave a fever. Read as many books as you can. Always choose courage. Never watch another woman burn. Know that love is the only answer."

I'm so grateful to Alice Hoffman, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

It is easy to be completely swept up in a tale that is so well told. Hoffman effortlessly weaves the beginning threads of Maria’s early years.

My favorite parts were the glimpses into Maria’s grimoire. The ingredients changed every time she traveled to new places.

Hoffman expertly crafts precise literary passages that give insight about the world around us. Insights available to all, but only privy to those who dare to stop and observe the natural world.

I would like to thank @NetGalley for the opportunity to read Magic Lesson by Alice Hoffman. Unfortunately I was only able to make it through half of the book due to unfortunate circumstances. I would like to say that I have ordered myself a copy and plan to finish and will update my review accordingly.

About the book: I very much enjoyed learning the origins of Maria Owens, we hear a lot about her from "Practical Magic". In "Magic Lessons" we follow her story from her birth and youth under the tutelage of Hannah Owens, and as a bright youth learning and even potentially exceeding the skills of her birth mother, and beyond to North America. Ms. Hoffman writes an immersive experience, being set in the mid-1600s, the story takes what we know of witches of the era and brings it down to a personal level. I would highly recommend this to fans of "Practical Magic".

Magic Lessons is a fascinating novel. Alice Hoffman's uses brilliant writing to cast a spell on her reader. The novel is difficult to put down and the characters creep into the reader's conscience. Maria Owens is abandoned in a snowy field in rural England as a baby. Raised by the loving Hannah Owens who teaches Maria about the "Unnamed Arts." Maria has a gift for this magic and uses Hannah's tonics, teas and spells throughout her own life.
Maria falls in love with the wrong man and she finds herself pregnant and alone. She travels with her daughter to Salem, Massachusetts to confront her former lover. Maria's life is full of challenges and she loses her daughter, Faith. Maria uses her magic only for good and makes a career of helping women in need. She finds the love of her life, but casts him aside. Will they ever reunite? Will Maria's daughter Faith return to her? Magic Lessons is a unique story full of interesting details. There is nothing tricky about this thought provoking novel.

(4.5/5) The first half of this book was a bit slow for me but after that, it really picked for me and had me spellbound. Alice Hoffman's writing and storytelling is beautiful and breathtaking. This is a prequel to Practical Magic and tells the story of Maria Owens, abandoned at birth and found by Hannah Owens who raises Maria as her own. This story takes us from London to Curacao to Salem, Massachusetts, the place that Maria makes her home with her own daughter, Faith. What an amazing and, at times, heartbreaking journey. I loved Maria Owens. Such a strong and independent woman who helped many women but was afraid to fall in love. While I have read and loved a few of Alice Hoffman's books, I must confess that I have not read Practical Magical (I have seen the movie) or The Rules of Magic but those two books are sitting on my bookshelf ready to be read. I'm actually glad that I read this one first as now I can continue reading the stories of the Owens women and know where their family history began. Magic Lessons is truly a magical read!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the review copy.

If you were a desperate fan of Practical Magic, Maria Owens stood tall and ephemeral, you saw her as this fantastical character whose legacy stretched far beyond her years. In Magic Lessons, Maria finally gets her due, in a book that invokes a multitude of passionate emotions, beautifully written so that the images created within conjure every moment, immersing the reader.

Read this book to fall in love with Maria Owens, a baby abandoned in the snow, Cadin- the black crow and her familiar, and the kindest of witches- Hannah Owens. Magic recipes and spells, black soap, black mirrors, blue thread, courage tea, all these layered and beautifully realized aspects and details of the Owens life is laid at the readers feet to devour. This novel is a feast for the senses and the imagination.

Magic Lessons is THE book to read this October!

What Can I say about Magic Lesson's Where do i even Begin. It was everything that I imagined it would be such a wonderful adventure that it took me on.



Magic Lesson's is the prequel to practical Magic if you will, Telling the story of Maria Owen's. Alice Hoffman Did More than an excellent Job bringing it back to the beginning the start of it all. I couldn’t be Happier with the Book.



In Magic Lesson's we get to learn about the origin of the Owens curse. We get to live with maria and experience her emotion's from love to revenge we join her on her adventure's and Thoughtful Lesson's about life itself.



I have always Been A Huge Fan Of Practical Magic The Movie and Book are superb and then Alice Blessed us with The Rules of magic and now she brought it all around with Magic lesson's. definitely a wonderful addition to the series and I would highly recommend anyone who love witchy books, magic filled lessons to go ahead and pick it up. With it hitting stores today I will have to find me way into my local books store and pick up a physical copy even though I was Blessed with an eARC from netgalley.

Magic lesson was a book I went into completely blind. I enjoyed this continuation of the Owens storyline. I have enjoyed Practical Magic and Rules of Magic and this was a nice continuation of the story. Alice Hoffman does an amazing job of bringing the reader into the story. I loved the storytelling and eloquent writing style. A story with such a strong woman and bonds between a mother and daughter. A truly enjoyable read.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Practical Magic is one of my favorite books of all time. Maria Owens is the matriarch of the family and in Practical Magic we learn about Maria and the death curse she placed on any man who dares to love an Owens woman.

Magic Lessons, the prequel to the Rules of Magic, takes place in the 17th century. It’s set in England, Curacao, Salem, and New York. Each setting represents a different phase of Maria’s life. The first portion of the book is all about Maria and how she grew up, her relationships, and how she handles her magic during a time period when hanging witches is common practice. The second half of the book focuses on Faith, Maria’s daughter. I particularly enjoyed the parts of the book about Faith’s life. She goes from an angsty teenager to a strong woman and witch. We do learn about the dark side of magic and the repercussions of using it during the last part of the book.

Throughout the book both Maria and Faith are evolving and growing as women and witches. I thoroughly enjoyed their stories. Alice Hoffman’s writing style is beautiful. Her stories are character driven. Her prose is almost lyrical. She sprinkles spells and healing recipes throughout the book.

I typically don’t read historical fiction but I loved book and the Rules of Magic. I do have to say that because of the Salem Witch Trials and the ongoing hunt for witches this book is much darker than the other 2 in the series. It is far less humorous than The Rules of Magic.

Of course this book was a 5/5 for me. It was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster publishing for an advanced digital copy of the book for my review.

I give this a 4.5.

Overall, this was the perfect book for the beginning of autumn. The writing style reminded me of a fairy tale, and I just wanted to curl up under a warm blanket with some apple cider and enjoy it uninterrupted.

Alice Hoffman's latest addition to the Practical Magic story takes us back to the years of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, and we learn about Maria Owens -- her childhood, her first love, her daughter -- and more importantly, we learn why she places a curse against love on the future generations of Owens women.

I will admit that while I've read several other books by Alice Hoffman, this is actually my first book in this trilogy (although I'm familiar with the future characters through the movie adaptation.) Even so, this absolutely worked as a stand-alone book (even though now I want to hurry up and read the other two.)

I really appreciated that while this book overlapped with the infamous trials in Salem, it wasn't just another Salem Witchcraft Trials book. The focus was really on the characters themselves and not on the trials or the perpetrators of the executions.

This book was primarily about Maria's life, but it was also a commentary on society about the prejudice and sexism in the world, especially against strong, independent women. I also liked the balance/ambivalence between the "good" Unnamed Arts that helped people and made the world a better place and the "bad" Dark Magic that helped Faith exact revenge on people who would hurt those weaker than them. Even though the book favored the former, it didn't necessarily condemn the latter, which is a more realistic look at the world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. It did not influence my opinion.

Beginning of the Owens Witchcraft Story

Abandoned as a baby, Maria Owens was found in a field by Hannah Owens. Hannah realized that Maria had gifts and trained her in the arts of witchcraft. These are mostly healing arts, but some black magic is there also. However, Hannah’s most important teaching is to love someone who will love you back.

Maria forgets Hannah’s advice when she follows her lover, John Hathorne to Salem, Mass. Maria is obsessed with Hathorne, rejected by him and distraught, she invokes a curse that will haunt her family for generations.

This book starts slowly, but the characters are so realistic you find connection to them and want to learn out more about their lives. This story, although filled with witchcraft, is mostly about love. Maria thinks she has found true love, but when abandoned she turns to obsession and fails to see the true love when she is presented with it.

The book is very well written. It’s filled with descriptions of spells, and magic recipes. It also has dark moments when the art of witchcraft delves into the darker aspects such as the pursuit of revenge. This is the prequel to Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. It is the beginning of the Owens story and leads the reader through the perilous times in first England and later in Salem, Massachusetts. As a prequel it can read as a standalone, but will encourage you to learn more about the Owens saga in the following books.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

Maria Owens was abandoned as an infant and raised by Hannah Owens, who teaches her about the "unnamed arts." She learns important lessons, including the value of being loved by someone that would love her back. When Maria is abandoned by the man that promised to love her, she sets in motion the curse that will haunt all of the Owens women for generations to come.

Magic Lessons is the prequel to Practical Magic, a book that I have deeply loved for years. (The movie is good, too, but changes quite a few things from the book and is pretty much its own entity.) Maria was such a cipher there, the enigmatic founder of the Owens line, betrayed by the man she loved. Here, she is front and center among all the tidbits of knowledge she collected in her grimoire. Among the lore of herbal remedies and superstition we see her growing up with Hannah Owens, who was the kind mother that shaped her childhood and stressed that this knowledge should be used to benefit others. Rebecca, the woman that gave birth to Maria and abandoned her in the name of her own passions, provided lessons of her own that Maria absorbed. As Maria continues to grow in knowledge and power, there are still elements of betrayal and pain long before she meets the man she loved.

I enjoyed getting this look into Maria, at the nuances of her life and all that she had endured before even reaching twenty. She's a young woman with incomplete knowledge, still braving the inevitable displeasure that those in charge of Salem would show her. She believes in what's right, not what's politically expedient, and we see the multiple traumas that shaped her as well as her daughter Faith. This is a story of recovery as well, the hard road back from the dark or isolation. Love of different kinds is the only way to return from those places, to reclaim the self and the future they hope for. This is perfect for Alice Hoffman's lyrical and melancholic prose, and every bit as wonderful as the original Practical Magic was.

Thank you to @netgalley for the Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
Where does the story of the Owens bloodline begin? With Maria Owens, in the 1600s, when she's abandoned in a snowy field in rural England as a baby. Under the care of Hannah Owens, Maria learns about the "Unnamed Arts." Hannah recognizes that Maria has a gift and she teaches the girl all she knows. It is here that she learns her first important lesson: Always love someone who will love you back. When Maria is abandoned by the man who has declared his love for her, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. Here she invokes the curse that will haunt her family. And it's here that she learns the rules of magic and the lesson that she will carry with her for the rest of her life. Love is the only thing that matters.

Alice Hoffman is a brilliant storyteller! Her newest novel, Magic Lessons is the prequel to the Practical Magic series but can be read as a standalone. I was totally enthralled from the first page and found it hard to put down!

I love that Hoffman writes stories with strong female characters! While they endure many struggles and challenges, in the end they are survivors.

The way Hoffman weaves historical fiction and magical realism makes this an enchanting must read.

"Do as you will but harm no one. What you give will be returned to you threefold."

Is there any book more perfect for the early days of fall than a beautiful, nostalgic story about magic and witches?

Magic Lessons is one of my most anticipated books of 2020. I am a huge fan of Alice Hoffman’s books and her storytelling style, so I was so thrilled to find out that she was adding yet another prequel to her beloved classic, Practical Magic… and wow she did not disappoint!

Magic Lessons is a sort of origin story of the Owens women, that transports us all the way back to the 1600’s where we meet the beautiful and talented witch, Maria Owens. Throughout this book, you see sprinkles of the magic we see later on in Rules of Magic and Practical Magic (like courage tea and black soap) and reoccurring themes of identity, belonging, love, and fate that follow the resilient Owens women across generations.

It is important to note that you do not need to read Practical Magic or Rules of Magic to enjoy or understand Magic Lessons. But! There is a subtle connecting thread that shimmers throughout these three stories and I do think that reading Practical Magic, followed by Rules of Magic, and then Magic Lessons will help any reader see and appreciate those connections even more.

This book represents Alice Hoffman at her finest. The writing is so enchanting and lyrical, it sucks you into its magical world and never lets go. Hoffman’s characters are always so incredibly beautiful - Maria was an especially lovingly-crafted and bittersweet protagonist and I loved Cadin too - you can’t help but feel deeply emotionally connected to them.

Like most of Hoffman’s books, Magic Lessons is a bit of a languid, wandering tale. But the magic of tis story is in the experience of reading it... and once you start, you'll never want the book to end!

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to read this e-arc and to have this gorgeous book in my life. I will treasure it for years to come.