Magic Lessons

Maria Owens enters the world with disadvantages - she has no identity, she is a woman, and she was born a witch. But there are advantages to being what she is, such as doing as you please and being able to discern one's fate. There are some fates Maria will gladly walk out to meet and other fates she will change, for better or worse. By the end of it, there will be a family curse to haunt her descendants.

I know that Alice Hoffman's works can be called magical realism, but I think they are simply magical. And this is book really is pure magic.

Hoffman deftly weaves together historical truths and fiction until you're convinced her version of events must be the real one, that Maria really did travel across the sea in search of a man who would give her diamonds. I really liked Practical Magic, but Magic Lessons is in a class of its own and I'm suddenly overcome with the need to make a pot of tea and drink it while observing the sunshine. I absolute adore this book. Definitely my favourite release of 2020 by far.

“Do as you will, but harm no one.
What you give will be returned to you threefold.”

Colour me bewitched! I say this with the utmost respect: with each Alice Hoffman book I read, I become more convinced that she is proficient in the Nameless Art.

If you’ve ever wondered how the Owens curse came to be, wonder no more. The answer lies in this book. The story of Maria Owens and her daughter, Faith, is one of love, revenge and the fear of powerful women.

Any story involving witchcraft in the 1600’s, especially one partially set in Salem, is bound to include all manner of horrors perpetrated against women. I prepared myself for the likelihood of witnessing immolations and drownings but I was still surprised at times by the darkness of some of the events that unfolded, particularly those involving [SPOILER - the death of animals - SPOILER]. I probably needed to brew myself a cup of Courage Tea before settling in.

“It was a dangerous world for women, and more dangerous for a woman whose very bloodline would have her do not as she was ordered, but as she pleased.”

There was so much to love about this book: the bond between mothers and daughters, the importance of keeping the door open to those in need, the power of words and finding the courage to be who you are. While I really liked Maria, it was Faith’s journey that really sucked me in.

A few times in the first quarter of the book I caught myself thinking that if something could be said in two sentences it was said in five, but over time I got used to the descriptions and backstories.

I was left with a few outstanding questions:

[SPOILER - If a witch’s touch turns silver black, then why was the hairpin still silver when Maria first received it? Wouldn’t Rebecca’s touch have already turned it black?

How do Maria’s red boots still fit her as an adult? Is there a spell that allows clothing to grow with you?

What happened to Elizabeth?

Did Finney ever return to Penny Come Quick? - SPOILER]

Reading this Owens origin story made me want to reread ‘Practical Magic’ and finally read ‘The Rules of Magic’. ‘Practical Magic’ and I have a long history. I fell in love with Alice Hoffman’s early books in the 90’s, so of course I found ‘Practical Magic’ then. I also managed to wear out the movie on VHS before the DVD made its way into my life. I would still have that DVD, if not for a friend who ‘borrowed’ it and failed to return it. Never fear; I found the perfect incantation in my Grimoire so they aren’t likely to do it again. 😜

““You never told me what happens if someone falls in love with us.”
“We ruin their lives,” Maria told her daughter.”

Content warnings include child abuse, deaths of animals, domestic violence and some marriages that creeped me out, where the man was in his 30’s or older and the girl was in her early teens.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this book. I’m rounding up from 4.5 stars.

“This is how you begin in this 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”
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Maria was found as a baby in a snowy field swaddled in a blue blanket, a crow perched on the edge of her basket. Found by Hannah Owens, the little girl grows up in rural England with her crow-familiar Cadin learning healing and the “Unnamed Arts.” Set in the 17th Century, just after the death of Mathew Hopkins the Witch-finder General, the appearance of a red-haired witch on Hannah’s doorstep signals the end of Maria’s childhood. She finds herself sold into servitude by a man she thought she could trust and travels first to Curaçao and from there to Salem, Massachusetts. She leaves a good man behind and follows a man who promises much and delivers very little. It is this man that causes Maria to curse all men who fall in love with an Owens woman, the repercussions of which we see in Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic


I loved the strong female characters in this novel; Hannah, Maria, Rebecca and Faith and the good men that chose to love them despite the risks. There was magic woven through the whole novel with spells of heart-break and healing. Magic was taught freely amongst witches, but there were repercussions for abuse of power and left-handed magic
“Do as you will, but harm no one
What you will give will be returned to you threefold”
A very good rule for life really


I found that this book moved a little more slowly for me, particularly the middle third, in comparison with Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic which remain my favourite works by Alice Hoffman. Perhaps that was because the historical setting of Magic Lessons made it feel a little less immediate. However, it was still a perfect read for October and made me wish for sprinkle of magic to bake into an apple pie.

I'm rather new to Alice Hoffman's writing, having only recently started reading Practical Magic. Alas I hadn't quite finished it before starting this so hopefully there weren't any big spoilers to the first of the books. I found this book truly engaging and enjoyed the story throughout. Of course there is magic involved but much of this is about the strength of the women and also about relationships, love and loss. This reads a lot differently to Practical Magic, at least in my eyes. Perhaps it's the shift from modern to 18th century?

Anyway, this was a good introduction to Alice Hoffman and I look forward to finishing Practical Magic and reader other books by her. I give this 4 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster (Australia) for sharing an advanced reader copy in exchange for review.

When Hannah Owens found the crow beside the abandoned babe back in the 1600s and saw the name “Maria” delicately sewn on her blanket with blue thread, she took her back to her cabin to raise her. When Hannah died, Maria inherited her Grimoire, the book of magic filled with instructions and spells, and headed for Curacao. Maria’s meeting of John Hathorne – after vowing never to fall in love – saw that vow fail her, and when John abandoned her and Maria discovered she was pregnant, she lived quietly with two special women until her time was due. The beautiful red headed baby girl was called Faith, and Maria could see her magic was strong.

Sailing for America where Maria knew John had returned, she met the captain and his son. Samuel Dias was very ill, and the captain dearly loved his son. When Maria said she could save him, a bond was formed between the three of them. Living in Manhattan with Samuel now captaining his own vessel and his father quietly spending his final years with Maria and Faith, disaster was not far away. For there were many forms of love and some were the worst kind which even a witch couldn’t avoid…

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman is a deep, profound and delightful, magical story written with art and grace. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Maria and her familiar, Cadin the black crow, along with Faith and her familiar, the wolf, Keeper. The story of the Owens family’s beginning is a fascinating one and I highly recommend it to fans of the genre, and of course Ms Hoffman.

With thanks to Simon & Schuster AU for my uncorrected proof ARC (with its beautiful cover) to read in exchange for an honest review.

EXCERPT: Hannah came around from the apothecary garden as Maria was studying the pin that had been cast into the tall grass. In the girl's hands, the silver turned black in an instant, as if brushed with dark paint, though the rubies shone more brightly because of her touch. Hannah clutched the leeks she had gathered more tightly to her chest, and felt an ache inside her bones. The wide-brimmed straw hat she wore to protect her from the sun fell from her head, and she didn't bother to go after it. What she had long suspected had now been shown to be true. She'd felt it from the start, that first day under the junipers when she spied the baby in her basket, a rare sight that had spread cold pinpricks along her spine. As she'd unwrapped Maria from her blanket, she'd spied an unusual birthmark in the shape of a star, hidden in the crease of the girl's inner elbow. Right away she wondered if this was the cause of the child's abandonment, for bloodline witches were said to be marked in such sly, concealed places, on the scalp, upon the small of the back, at the breastbone, along the inner arm. It was one thing to learn magic, but quite another to be born with it.

ABOUT: MAGIC LESSONS (PRACTICAL MAGIC 0.1) - 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.

MY THOUGHTS: Love potion #9? There's a recipe contained in Magic Lessons. But there is a tenth love potion, an enchantment only fit for those so desperate that they do not fear the consequences. There are always consequences.

It is said that love makes the world go round. But some swear by revenge. It must always be remembered though, that whatever you cast out into the world will come back to you threefold. Cast a spell in haste? Repent at leisure.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned . . . from remedies for fevers, salves for cuts, scrapes and infections, a cure for colic, and for dysentery, (no recipes, but it makes for interesting reading) to spells for all manner of things.

But this is mere embroidery for the cloth of the story, of how it all began, the heritage and the legacy of the Owen women.

Despite that we are told the story, rather than experiencing it, it did not take long for Hoffman's beautiful writing to enchant and bewitch me. The descriptions are vivid, as are the characters. It is an intense blend of history, love and family saga. The witch trials of Salem are touched on, as is the inhumane treatment of women in the 1600s, usually at the hands of men who felt threatened by them, or who simply saw it as a sport.

Prepare to have your heart shattered, and shattered again. Neither the characters nor the plot are predictable. Having just finished Magic Lessons, I am not sure that I am ready to be reimmersed in the 21st century. I may need to brew some calming tea. Oh, and I must remember not to cut my parsley with a knife; to add Hyssop and Horehound to my shopping list; and to buy my own paper copy of Magic Lessons.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.6

#MagicLessons #NetGalley

These are the lessons to be learned:
Drink chamomile tea to calm the spirit.
Feed a cold and starve a fever (I remember both my Nan and my Mum telling me that).
Read as many books as you can.
Always choose courage.
Never watch another woman burn.
Know that love is the only answer.

THE AUTHOR: Alice Hoffman is an American novelist and young-adult and children's writer, best known for her 1995 novel Practical Magic, which was adapted for a 1998 film of the same name. Many of her works fall into the genre of magic realism and contain elements of magic, irony, and non-standard romances and relationships. (Wikipedia)

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Simon & Schuster Australia for providing a digital ARC of Magic Lessons (Practical Magic #0.1) for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

“To any man who ever loves an Owens, let this curse befall you, let your fate lead to disaster, let you be broken in body and soul, and may it be that you never recover.”

Magic Lessons is a prequel in Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic series. The curse that fosters angst in the lives of characters we meet in Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic was spoken from the gallows in Salem in 1686 by their ancestor, Maria Owens.

This prequel follows her life from when, as a baby, she was found by Hannah Owens in a snowy field with the crow; taught much of the Unnamed Art into which she was born; watched the women around her betrayed by men who saw evil where there was none; vowed not to deal with love, but taken in anyway, by the father of her daughter, Faith and sent to the gallows by his word.

And after that gallows curse, the search for a taken child whose direction takes a turn to the darker arts. And finally, to the building of that house on Magnolia Street, via imprisonment and witch trials and dunkings. As expected, there are herbal recipes, spells and familiars and, of course, that pesky deathwatch beetle, but also good, true, patient men, brave and loyal friends, and love. Fans of the genre and this series will be enchanted, and looking forward to the final volume, The Book of Magic.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia.