I just finished this book and WOW! Alice Hoffman did it again. This origin story of the Owens’ curse is magnificent. I couldn’t put it down! Alice Hoffman has a magical way with words.

Maria Owen’s life story is courageous and moving. It has everything from love to revenge to adventure to thoughtful lessons on life. I didn’t know how much I needed this story until I read this book.

I won’t say I loved this one more than Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic because those two are hard to beat, but I will say this story was incredibly unique and 100% deepened my love for the Owens family.

I will definitely read this book again!

Alice Hoffman has written an origin story set in the 1600s for the Owens family from her Practical Magic series. Beware! Once you begin, you will be enthralled. Hannah Owens lives in an out of the way cottage in England when one night she finds an abandoned baby in the field near her home. The baby’s lovely blanket has the name Maria stitched in blue thread in the border. As the baby grows, it is soon obvious that the baby is gifted in the ways of magic just as Hannah is herself. Maria comes to love a man who abandons her. She seeks him out in Massachusetts and the Owens family curse evolves. Told during the Salem Witch Trials, the historical details are rich. Alice Hoffman is a master at weaving a story that casts a spell that makes you want to read all night.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have really enjoyed some of Alice Hoffman's work in the past, including The Rules of Magic, so I was excited to see another book about the Owens family. Hoffman's work is always so readable, and once I pick one of her books up I have a hard time putting it down. This was no different. I enjoyed reading about the origin of the Owenses and am always happy to read about strong women in history(real or fictional.) There were a few plot points that felt like they weren't fully thought out. (SPOILER ALERT: Wouldn't the hairpins have come to Maria black if they were already owned by a witch? And the when can and can't Maria "feel" Faith felt more convenient and less convincing.) But I could overlook those for a good story. This is overall a book I would recommend.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I am a big fan of Alice Hoffman and have read several of her books. Practical Magic is my favorite so I was excited to see that there was a prequel now available. It was so interesting to read the story of the Owens women and how they came to be cursed in love. Hoffman is a great storyteller and yet again, she told a creative, interesting, mystical story that fully grabbed my attention and kept me hooked from start to finish.

Absolutely spellbinding! This prequel showcases Hoffman’s extensive skills, prose, historical knowledge, and craft. I love to be so invested in a family of characters!

This novel explores a centuries-old curse to determine the source, as the reader follows the story of Maria Owens. Maria was accused of witchcraft in Salem. Maria is one of the amazing Owens characters featured in Hoffman’s other books, Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic.

This novel begins with Maria Owens, in the 1600s, where she has been left to perish in a snowy field in rural England as an infant. This is not an unusual practice for the time. Under the care of Hannah Owens, Maria learns about the “Unnamed Arts.” Hannah quickly 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.

After 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. Thus, 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.

Another Book by Alice Hoffman showcasing her marvellous art of storytelling.

5.0+

I received a complimentary e-book copy of this book from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Magic Lessons, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

I tried my best to portion out this book in small bites, but I could not stop myself from finishing the last half of the book in less than 24 hours.

This book is the prequel to Practical Magic and part of a trilogy. I just have no words to describe how much I loved this book. It was just so powerful. amazing, and this word again: BEAUTIFUL.

This is the eighth or ninth book that I have read by Alice Hoffman and will be one of my absolute favorites. I already recommend THE DOVEKEEPERS for any time that I am asked for a book recommendation. But, this one may usurp my old standby.

Alice Hoffman writes so magically, lushly, and BEAUTIFULLY. I could feel myself in the book with all FIVE of my senses engaged. This book was just OUTSTANDING from the character development to the plotline - I could not find a single flaw in this book other than it ended!

HIGHLY RECOMMEND - especially if you like Alice Hoffman books, the PRACTICAL MAGIC trilogy, historical fiction, or just want to read a BEAUTIFUL book. "Beautiful" was the word that I used when I finished this book. Please read it!


HIGHLY RECOMMEND

I have loved every book in this series. I am drawn to the way magic is shown to surround us all and can be wielded both to heal and harm and that when to do which is not always clear.

Thank you, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When I received Magic Lessons, I was beyond excited to read the second prequel to one of my all time favorite books, Practical Magic. In this installment, the story follow three generations of Owens women and is told in multiple POVs which I loved, but sometimes the POV would change mid page which I felt to be slightly confusing but I was still able to understand the story.

Although this was definitely not my favorite out of the three book and did not blow me away like Rules of Magic did, it was still a very great read and a solid 4 stars. I
would recommend it to anyone who loved the other two books or any of the author’s other books.

5 stars / This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com on 22 September 2020 .


It is the late 1600s and Hannah Owens has found a baby in a basket in a snowy, open field. The baby is wrapped in a blanket stitched with the name Maria. Perched on the basket is a crow. Hannah takes the baby home and raises her as her own. Hannah practices the Nameless Art, otherwise known as magic, and recognizes that Maria was born with the gift.

As Maria grows, she learns from Hannah. Right from wrong, good magic versus left-handed magic. Many women come to Hannah for love cures - ways to make their lives better with their husbands. Hannah is also known for her black soap that will take 20 years off any woman. One day a woman comes to Hannah for assistance with breaking an enchantment she put on her husband. Rebecca lives in a fine home with a wealthy man, but he’s not the man she loves.

Will Maria learn from the mistakes of the women in her past?

Magic Lessons tells the story of how the Owens women came to be cursed when it comes to love. It is a fabulous story of Maria Owens life, her loves, and the future she leaves for the generations of witches to come. Alice Hoffman treated us to a gem by going back in time, before Practical Magic to introduce us to the woman who set in motion what would happen for generations to come. Being set in the time of the Salem witch trials ties it into historic events, and explains how the trials came to be.

Long, but amazing, I loved this book. Hoping that Alice Hoffman will bring us the next chapter of the Owens story.

Magic Lessons takes the reader to the beginning of the Owens women, before there was a curse, before Sally and Jillian's use of dark magic. Hoffman weaves an enchanting story of Maria Owens, found at birth in a field, and brought up learning the craft from Hannah, another witch. We read about the losses and griefs that Maria had to shoulder in the name of love, which turned out not to be love after all. And all the while we get to witness Maria's lessons in magic, experiencing the truths about magic, and life, that Hannah had taught her from birth.

Hoffman offers an enjoyable backstory to readers who have followed the Owens women over time. With whimsical storytelling, she gives you insight into the life of Maria Owens, making it the perfect companion book to the Practical Magic books.

I am a huge fan of Practical Magic and getting another book about that world is amazing. It did not disappoint, loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my electronic ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published September 8, 2020.

This is my first book by Alice Hoffman, and it’s the prequel to the Practical Magic (1995)and The Rules of Magic (2017) series. It works as a stand-alone book but it also got me excited to read the sequels.

It was fun to get lost in the world of witches, as I haven’t read anything with spells since the Harry Potter series.

This book takes place in the 1600s and crosses 3 generations of women. I especially liked the storyline of mother Maria and daughter Faith.

Original review posted on GoodReads.

Finally! In Magic Lessons, Alice Hoffman unveils the beautiful story of Maria Owens, the matriarch of the Owens family we have come to know and love from her books Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic. If you love the Owens women characters in those books, this new book is a must read!

Over the span of more than 30 years, the story of Maria unfolds. She learns lessons along the way from the woman who raised her, from the men she loves, from her daughter, and ultimately from unexpected friendships. The lessons aren’t just lessons for magic, but also lessons for a life well lived.

The story of Maria begins as Hannah Owens, an unrelated practitioner of the nameless art, finds a baby abandoned on a winter day in a snowy field in rural England. She raises Maria, realizes she has a gift, and begins to teach her the first lessons she will learn about magic and life. Hannah is the one who teaches Maria to always love someone who will love you back. The story then moves to the West Indies where Maria finds yet another teacher to continue her lessons, but ultimately, she also meets a man named John Hathorne who changes her fate. After following him to Salem, Massachusetts, the witchcraft of Maria Owens begins to take center stage. What happened in Salem in the 1600s is commonly known, and Maria does not escape accusation. She is misunderstood and feared, despite the fact that she is merely a mother, trying to make the best life for her daughter, a universally relatable goal. Maria was jailed and put on trial, but it is what happens to Maria in the years after her trial that is the best part of the novel.

The story of Maria and her daughter, Faith, and their relationship was unexpected and entirely new, even to this fan of the Owens family. It is a beautiful portrayal of the lengths to which mothers will go for their daughters, as we follow Maria and Faith in the years after Salem. I love that the relationship between mother and daughter is one of the most important story lines in the novel, very appropriate as these stories are about the Owens women as central characters.

I have come to appreciate and love Alice Hoffman’s stories, but it has been a long journey. I first fell in love with Practical Magic, the movie, then read another book by Alice Hoffman for a book club selection. It was while discussing this other book, that I learned she was the author of the book, Practical Magic, so of course, I had to read it! Once I read my second Alice Hoffman book, I was hooked. I love historical fiction, magical realism, and complicated family dramas, so, it is no surprise I jumped at the chance to read the ARC of Magic Lessons. Yet this amazing book still exceeded my expectations. Five stars from me for the latest book about life, love, and magic from Alice Hoffman, Magic Lessons!

I was excited when granted an advanced reader's copy of this lovely story--thank you NetGalley!

I am an avid reader of anything pertaining to witches, and this did not disappoint. The story follows the origin of the Owens women so famously featured in Hoffman's earlier novel Practical Magic and how their family curse came to be. I enjoyed the story and found the ending quite satisfactory. There were moments where I felt the story dragged a bit in the middle, but it quickly picked up near the end. This is definitely a great addition to the shelf of any fan of Alice Hoffman or witchy reads in general!

Another Alice Hoffman great read! She has to be my favorite author & she never disappoints. Her description of chacters are amazing & her storyline is one not to put her book down!
Thank you Ms. Hoffman!

Thank you so much to #NetGalley and Simon Schuster for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

OOH I love LOVED this book. This book goes back to the beginning of the Owens family and we hear the story of Maria. We even meet Maria's ' "mother" Helen. This is the story of how the curse came to be. If you have thought about reading Practical Magic and Rules of Magic, read them AFTER you read this one.. Its not required though because if even you read them (as I have) its still a great book and to be honest it had me going back to the Practical Magic and Rules and rereading them. This will give you a whole new outlook on the series.
Thank you again so much for the opportunity to read this. I LOVED IT!

There is quite a bit of information packed into this delightful book. It follows Marie Owens life from birth into adulthood. The reader gets a better understanding of why the Owens family is cursed. Marie Owens had a very tragic life full of ups and downs. One can understand why she became so bitter toward men. The characters are relatable and well written. The author obviously did a great deal of research for this book. The timeline works great and the descriptions of Salem and the events that transpire are right on level for that time period.
If you like books with strong female leads, this is your type of book. Marie and her daughter, Faith, remain true to themselves and never back down when facing adversity. Faith is extremely stubborn and did upset me a few times. There is a period of time when Marie and Faith are separated and Faith never seems to get over it, even though they were separated for a good reason.
The author also throws in some interesting information about herbs and teas and what they are used for. It’s like getting a look into Marie’s Grimoire.

Let me begin by saying that I am a huge fan of the Practical Magic movie, but have never read Alice Hoffman's book. People always told me that the movie was better. After reading Magic Lessons, I have a difficult time believing that. Magic Lessons is robust! It's summarized as Maria Owens' story, but in truth there are four women central to this 416-page historical fiction. As a reviewer of an advanced copy, the text isn't officially considered finalized so they aren't supposed to be quoted; however, I love great quotes and do use them from ARCs often. I have a ton of passages highlighted in Magic Lessons and I have to include a few knowing they may not be the actual published words.

Hoffman didn't use traditional chapters in the layout of Magic Lessons. There are multiple parts broken up by section dividers. Within the sections, Hoffman includes Hannah's and Maria's lists of remedies and garden tips. Fans of the Practical Magic movie would have heard such tips as always plant lavender for luck and keep rosemary by your garden gate. It's the last part which the movie and the book get to that makes a heartwarming mention by the end of Magic Lessons: fall in love whenever you can.

It felt slow at times only because this book is just as much two books as one. Maria's daughter Faith gets a substantial story taking up her own share of pages. Faith's story goes from her birth to age sixteen. Maria's story goes from her birth (including her birth mother Rebecca and her adoptive mother Hannah) into adulthood. The story takes place from 1664 - 1696.

It's Hannah's lessons on the Nameless Art (witchcraft) that are key to everything Maria learns. There's plenty of Anglo and North American settings with culturally-specific fairy tale imagery. Maria goes from Essex County in England to the Caribbean to the Massachusetts Bay Colony to New York City (where the Dutch still have the majority of influence). From one Essex County to another (England to Massachusetts), Maria faces constant double-edged swords as all in the Nameless Art do. On one hand, women seek their services; on the other hand, those women belong to religions, families, or strict societies where witches are to be persecuted.

Each character feels genuinely alive with ample time to get to know who they are and what motivations drive them. Rebecca abandoned Maria at birth, but it was probably the right thing to do because Hannah (also a blood lineage witch) was the one to find her. Hannah was far more maternal than Rebecca's selfish ambitions driven by lust. Readers probably won't come out hating or even disliking Rebecca though despite her choices being made by her love of an actor rather than her abusive husband. Rebecca had to do whatever possible to find her own sense of empowerment and ultimately freedom. A child was not something she was willing to take on at the time of Maria's birth given the family circumstances. Maria gets to know her for a while and she learns plenty including how love is the most powerful force.

Love backfires for Hannah too, but it's told in past tense. The love of her life betrayed her and Hannah never loved another person. When she finds this baby in the snow with a witch's mark, her life is as full as she needs it be. Hannah is the ultimate parent in every way. Her love is carried through Maria on the child's unbelievably oppressive quest halfway around the world. It's also mentioned that Hannah's form of green magic which is based on the natural world more than worship of a deity comes from Old Norse tradition and was brought to England.

Maria is the type of character who is different in the way her strength comes out; and her own child Faith is remarkably different from her mother's as well. Examining the trauma of each female character (all witches trying to survive in secret), readers can see how the human body, mind, and environment play parts in choices. Rebecca's answer is to flee. Hannah's is that of a warrior willing to make every sacrifice for the love of her daughter. Maria disobeys those in power over her and learns to be mature in decision-making in adolescence. Faith pretends to obey all her oppressors, but then seeks revenge. Fighting, fleeing, dissociating under duress, and seeking to do harm. Those are ways Hoffman brilliantly shows her skills in character arcs. Readers will undoubtedly wonder who gets redeemed and who doesn't until the end.

Since this is historical fiction, the setting of the Salem Witch Trials plays one of the key parts. John Hathorne, an angry, conservative, Puritan magistrate is one of the book's central male figures. Other known historical figures are mentioned like Increase and Cotton Mather and Governor Phipps. What you need to know about John Hathorne can be summed up in this quote (*may not be the published version):

"Women could destroy men, he was sure of it, as Eve had tempted Adam. This was the reason women were not allowed to speak in church. To merely look up on them could cause vile thoughts, and soon enough such thoughts could become deeds. Hathorne believed that God and his angels moved through the mortal world, but the devil walked among them as well."

The shift in Hathorne from the man Maria met and fell in love with to his true self as a stubborn, self-righteous magistrate in New England is the form of masculinity off-set by the beauty and purity of "bad boys" found in sailors/pirates/importers Samuel Dias and his father Abraham. The Dias men were also forced to leave their home due to religious persecution. Samuel is at least more age appropriate than most of the other relationships mentioned for the Owens women. John Hathorne is thirty-seven when he meets fifteen-year-old Maria.

Without spoiling too much, the animal familiars are characters as fully formed as any human ones. They have journeys and Hoffman includes reminders that a familiar comes to a witch by choice and can leave whenever it wants to. It's not a subservient being as depicted in many stories. The familiar forms a bond with their witch as strong as a best friend, parent, or sibling. Familiars are family. They also have their own agency showing that their loyalty is not unconditional. They try to guide their human companions as best as they can. They try to protect each other as partners.

"For protection against love: black cloth, red thread, clove, blackthorn."

As expected for a book about magic and folklore, there is a ton of symbolism in Hoffman's choices. Blue is the color of protection in her version of magic. Typically today's practicing witches use black for protection, but black is for mourning. Grey is the color of the oppressed who dared not have any personal expression at all. It also represents depression and sadness. Red is downright scandalous among the people in the Massachusetts Bay Colony but it probably wouldn't be noticed as clothing in Curaçao. Red hair was considered a sign of a witch or someone not to be trusted. The witches love to wear their red boots and blue dresses. Candles for love spells -- to bring it or send it away -- are white. Blood magic is a whole different world than sympathetic magic.

"Black magic, red magic, blood magic, love magic. Rebecca divided both the world that she walked through and the world that was unseen into these categories."

I also want to give Hoffman recognition for always including the indigenous origins of spell ingredients, rituals, and methods that go into magic performed by Maria and Faith. The women who are enslaved have their own magic and Hoffman emphasizes that Maria cannot simply lurk and borrow their ways. She has to wait for an invitation and proper lessons from her friend's aunt during her time in Curaçao. Faith ends up with The Book of the Raven written by an enslaved woman from Africa. The book somehow ended up in New York for sale at a market vendor. The desperation of those women called for revenge magic and Faith ends up on that path, the left-hand path as some would call it. The choices in the unseen women of Magic Lessons is relevant today in the Black Lives Matter and other civil rights movements. The target audience of this book might not be women of color, but they have roles to play. In Curaçao, one of the housemaids, Juni, becomes like a sister to Maria. Juni's contract as a black girl is different than Maria's contract of indentured servitude. Using what little privilege Maria has, she leverages it to get Juni's freedom too.

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman is the first book in the Practical Magic series that I've read but it won't be the last. As in all of her books Hoffman weaves her own magic- fluid sentences, vivid descriptors and seamless character development. I find myself smiling at the beauty of her writing. We speak the same language but my words never fall into place so eloquently.
This is a genre and an era that I don't typically gravitate to but I was so engrossed that I didn't realize that till after I finished. I'm very happy to have had this opportunity to enjoy Magic Lessons and I thank NetGalley, the author and the publisher.