Alice Hoffman gets better and better with every book. I didn't think I could love one of her books more than Practical Magic, but then The Rules of Magic was magnificent. And then here comes Magic Lessons... I was apprehensive about reading this because I anticipated it ending tragically with the death and curse discussed in both previous books, but Hoffman spins a beautiful tale that is equal parts sad, beautiful and perfectly suited to her characters--much like many of her previous books. This reminded me of Faithful, with the same message of personal growth and the power of love and connection, while also taking elements of The Marriage of Opposites. If you loved The Witch of Blackbird Pond as a child or want magical realism with strong female characters, this is a book to add to your To Read lists.

Anyone who has read Practical Magic is familiar with the family legends about Maria Owens, the ancestor who began both the Owens line and the tradition of being unlucky in love. In "Magic Lessons" we are finally given Maria's story, from her childhood in England all the way through to her establishment in the New England colonies. We learn about the misguided love affair that begat the Owens curse, and about the early life of Maria's daughter Faith. Of course we know that Maria is going to have tragedy in her life, but in true Alice Hoffman fashion there is also hope.

As in any Alice Hoffman novel this book is full of lovely imagery and emotional moments. Occasionally the depth of imagery actually gets in the way of the story itself. There is a bit too much setting the scene and describing atmosphere and not quite enough dialogue and character interaction. I also had a tough time getting through the parts of the story that dealt with Faith's father, since we knew going in exactly how that was going to turn out. I did, however, very much enjoy the in between parts and the developing relationship between Maria and her daughter. The final third of the book was the best part, where Hoffman explores the consequences of the actions taken by the various characters.

"Magic Lessons" is another lovely installment in the history of the Owens women, and I wouldn't mind seeing more of this family in the future.

(as an aside, I was delighted by the information about the Jewish pirates of Jamaica. I had never heard this bit of Jewish history and had to go look it up to find out what the real story was. Very cool historical details.)

A fascinating story about Maria Owens and her daughter Faith. Maria finds her way to Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600’s searching for the father of her child. Alice Hoffman weaves a great tale of love and the hardships women went through in the 17th century.

Another simply wonderful novel by Alice Hoffman. The novel starts when Hannah, a practitioner of the Nameless Arts, finds a baby lying in the snow with a crow watching over her. Hannah rears Maria, who is clearly gifted herself until a tragedy befalls her. Maria sets out to find her true family and the meaning of love. Eventually she travels to the New World and gives birth to a talented daughter of her own. But when she ventures to find her child's father, the townspeople turn on her, nearly ending her life. In the midst of her strife, her child is taken from her, causing grief no mother should endure. Beautifully written, with characters the reader will long remember, MAGIC LESSONS is about finding one's own destiny and how we create our own family. Just excellent.

Anyone who is familiar with Alice Hoffman will know her previous work Practical Magic. This book is the prequel, but it is not required to have read the previous book or have even viewed the movie to enjoy this work.
This story follows Maria Owens, a young woman who is born out of wedlock in England and is found by a healer. It progresses and she eventually finds herself in the new world in the mid 17th century.
The descriptions of all the different scenes are so beautiful and warm, as is Hoffman's style.
This book is heartbreaking, beautiful, and touching all at the same time. I cannot say enough good things about this amazing book.
I found myself wishing it were longer, because Hoffman's prose is so stunning and transporting that I didn't want it to end.
If there were a way to give it more stars I would. It is as though she has lived every lifetime of her characters and is able to describe them intricately. If I could reread this book again for the first time, I definitely would. It has been a long time since I read practical magic and now I intend to read it shortly because this made me fall in love with the storyline all over again. I hope everyone takes the opportunity and reads it ASAP.

I freely admit that I have never read either Practical Magic or The Rules of Magic. But, I have loved most of Alice Hoffman’s books, and came into this with an open mind - no preconceptions based on the previous books in the series. I don’t think it matters that I haven’t read the other books, as this is a story that stands on its own. Maria is a wise woman, a healer, strong-willed, determined, a mother, a kind soul, and a witch, at a time when being called a witch most often led to execution of one form or another. Maria has a daughter. When Maria is jailed on suspicion of witchcraft, Faith is very young, and she is taken in by a neighbor who desperately wants a child. Magic Lessons in the story of Maria and Faith, and their journey back to each other, and into their own power and self-knowledge. Hoffman captures each character beautifully, and her writing is rich and evocative, but gets bogged down in places with the over-use of lists of herbs ands and plants and their healing properties. These lists felt like filler, and took me out of the momentum of the story. I wanted more feeling and less fluff. I did not love this book, and it probably won’t compel me to read the first two in the series

Wonderful,mystical prequel to Practical Magic. Hoffman deftly weaves history, mysticism, and fiction into an enchanting narrative.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantastic prequel to Practical Magic and Rules of Magic. Alice Hoffman is a go to buy for me and this is exactly why. She gets better with every book she writes! I ant recommend her enough!

I received this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review

5 Stars-in-My-Eyes

It is in the January of 1664 when Hannah Owens found an infant in a field, a foot of snow around her, the infant staring at a crows perched on her basket atop the junipers, the crow staring at this infant girl with pitch black hair and pale silvery-gray eyes, wrapped in a blanket with her name stitched along the border. And so Hannah brought the infant girl named Maria home to raise as her own, with the bird following, and Hannah singing.

The crow stayed on, and was named Caden. Caden, of course, knew he was supposed to be there, as he had recognized his destiny to be Maria’s familiar.

It’s there in the middle of these woods and fields where Maria learns about the nature around her, the difference between the things that grew there that could heal, and the things that could cause harm, with Hannah as her tutor as well as her mother.

In 1665, when Maria was two years old, deaths from the plague in London took the lives of sixty-eight thousand, followed by the fire in London the following year, which took seventy thousand homes. Hannah’s gifts were sought after by more and more women, women who came to her searching for answers, seeking her out the cures that came from her garden, cures for the ache of those looking for love. And while Hannah crafts her cures, Maria looks on and gains knowledge of the art of magic.

This story mainly follows the life of Maria, a story that begins as an infant and follows her life as she learns cures and remedies and charms from Hannah. And when Maria is ten, on Midsummer’s night, Hannah’s present to her is own Grimoire, a book made with love, and filled with power and knowledge. The lessons begin in earnest; there is much for Maria to learn.

Maria will eventually travel to Curaçao, where she lives for a while, until she travels to Boston some years later in search of a man she met in Curaçao, and the story goes on from there. Of course, included are the Salem Witch trials. Of course, there’s more, much more, to this story which I believe is her best of the Practical Magic series, perhaps because the writing seems a bit more elevated in tone than I remember from Practical Magic. A bit more like the writing I found in The Dovekeepers, although with more of the lightheartedness that is occasionally found in both of the sequels to this second prequel to the book that started it all.

If you’ve read either Practical Magic or Rules of Magic then you already know about the Owens family, and the ‘curse’ that has haunted the women in this family for centuries. If you haven’t read either of those books, Magic Lessons is where the story of the curse of the Owens women begins, so it isn’t necessary to have read them – but you’ll want to once you’ve finished reading this!


Pub Date: 06 Oct 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Simon & Schuster

It seems that this is one of a series; yet, I read it and enjoyed it as a stand-alone. References were made within the story that had me researching a bit for myself. Reading a good story with the possibility of learning new things is something I enjoy. Thank you Netgalley, Simon & Schuster and Alice Hoffman for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Great book in the Owens family series of books. The characters have been written with care. I’m not great at reviewing books in “writing form” so this is a woeful expression about how much I loved this book. Quick summary: I loved it, will be recommending it, and I give it 5 stars.

I've never read Alice Hoffman before, although I was familiar with her name and a few of her better known books. I was really missing out! This is a fascinating story on several levels. It's wonderful historical fiction, obviously well researched and filled with historically accurate (I think) characters who are fully realized and engaging. It's a family story about secrets and loss and longing. It's a romance about love gone wrong, unrequited love, and soulmates finally finding their way.

This is a prequel to Hoffman's Practical Magic books, but knowledge of these books is not necessary. Since I have not read them, I can't make a comparison. This is a standalone book. I can say that I am now intrigued enough to seek them out and read the rest of the story. Hoffman's writing is beautiful and brings the reader into this world of history and magic. Definitely recommended.

Alice Hoffman is a goddess of the written word. A consistently good writer, fabulous characterization, enchanting settings, and well-paced storytelling. Magic Lessons delivers and more in the Practical Magic universe? Sign me up!

Trigger warning: violence to a cat within the first few pages. I’ve stopped reading books for far less but because it’s Alice Hoffman, I continued.

I've enjoyed each of these books more than the one before it. I would like to think the work gets better as the author gets to know the Owens women more.

I always enjoy Alice Hoffman’s work because of the vein of magic that runs through it. Magic Lessons is a satisfying prequel to Practical Magic. Hoffman’s lyrical prose carries the reader along, like a leaf on the wind -- twisting, turning and floating through the life and time of Maria and Faith Owens. She so thoroughly puts you in the various settings of the book, from England to Curacao, Salem Massachusetts to New York. After reading passages, you can feel like you just visited those places, circa 1600s. The characters are well developed portrayals of strong but imperfect woman. The reader is an impotent witness to their sometimes heartbreaking mistakes, but can also feel relief as Maria and Faith gain wisdom and strength. I highly recommend this book for personal reading indulgence, as well as lush book discussions. I don’t think I give any of the plot away by quoting some of the most excellent final passages this reader has come across in a while: “These are the lessons to be learned. Drink chamomile tea to calm the spirit…Read as many books as you can….”

What a delight to delve into a new Alice Hoffman tale of witchcraft. Like snuggling into a familiar, beloved blanket, the pages of the Owen bloodline were entertaining and breathtaking.

If you’ve read or seen Practical Magic, you know about the “Owen’s Curse” among the Owens women! Magic Lessons is a origin story of how/what Owen’s Curse came about to be. The story mostly revolves around Hannah and Mariah Owens and their life. Although the story felt a bit dragged at places, I liked how the overall story turned out. There are inclusive magical references, 17th century England descriptions and most of all the Salem Witch Trial references!! There are lot of “speculations” out there, but I have always been fascinated by what really caused the Witch trials. Magic Lessons is a perfect prequel to Practical Magic, although it can be very well read as a standalone which I liked! Alice Hoffman is a gifted and amazing story teller.
Thank you Netgalley, Simon & Schuster and Alice Hoffman for the ARC. This review is my own and is not influenced in any way!

Hannah Owens finds a baby left alone, which is surprising, even in 17th century England. She raises Maria as her own, and it becomes clear to Hannah that the child is, like Hannah, a witch. Maria’s world changes when her natural father sells her into servitude to a sea captain traveling to Curacao. Here she learns the difference between love and infatuation, between lies and honesty. Her journey continues as she takes her infant daughter to Essex County Massachusetts, looking for a love that was so evident elsewhere. This novel is described as a prequel to Practical Magic, but it reads well as a stand-alone—there are very few authors who can tell a story like Alice Hoffman. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had just finished The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley and thought that this would be in a similar vein. A historical fiction, female main character, nothing too crazy (I sometimes think I'm in the mood for a science fiction, usually I am not). Anyways, I felt the whole thing was too much. In three hundred pages how many trials and tribulations need to happen to this poor woman? By the end I wasn't surprised when something awful happens. Really I felt as if I were Sybil from Fawlty Towers, bored with the conversation on the phone, saying "Oh I know."

The descriptions were a bit winded as well. I found myself skipping paragraphs to get past the descriptions of the towns and what was happening in the Salem Witch Trials. It's there to build a story, but for me wasn't my cup of tea.

I loved Hannah though and would love a story about her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Alice Hoffman, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this ARC.

Practical Magic (both the book and the movie) is one of my absolute favorite stories, so I was very excited to read this prequel. Alice Hoffman definitely does not disappoint while telling the story of Maria Owens and how the "Owens Curse" came to be. This was an amazing story, and I absolutely loved it.

There needs to be a continuation of the Owens family, with Kylie and Antonia as adults.