Newberry Branch Library

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2020

Title:	Magic lessons / Alice Hoffman.
Author:	Hoffman, Alice, author.
Format:	Book
Edition:	First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
Publisher, Date:	New York, NY : Simon & Schuster, 2020. ©2020
Description:	396 pages ; 25 cm
Summary:	"I'm often asked about the order in which you should read the books in the Practical Magic series. It's your choice! You can read them in the order they were written (Practical Magic, The Rules of Magic, Magic Lessons, The Book of Magic) or you can read them in chronological order (Magic Lessons, The Rules of Magic, Practical Magic, The Book of Magic). It's up to you!"--Alice Hoffman, author website. Accessed 6 October 2024. "In an unforgettable novel that traces a centuries-old curse to its source, beloved author Alice Hoffman unveils the story of Maria Owens, accused of witchcraft in Salem, and matriarch of a line of the amazing Owens women and men featured in Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic"-- Provided by publisher In the 1600s, Maria was abandoned in a snowy field in rural England as a baby. Under the care of Hannah Owens, who recognizes that Maria has a gift, she learns about the 'Unnamed Arts.' When Maria is abandoned by the man who has declared his love for her, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. She invokes a curse that will haunt her family for generations. And she learns the lesson that she will carry with her for the rest of her life: Love is the only thing that matters. -- adapted from jacket
Series:	The practical magic series Practical magic ; [1]. Hoffman, Alice. Practical magic series ; 1. Hoffman, Alice. Practical magic series.
Notes:	Prequel to Hoffman's 1995 book, Practical magic.

Availability:	6 (of 7)
Current Holds:	0

Call Number:	FICTION HOFFMAN 2020
Subjects:	1600-1775 Abandoned children -- Fiction. Witches -- Fiction. Magic -- Fiction. Blessing and cursing -- Fiction. Family secrets -- Fiction. British -- Massachusetts -- Salem -- Fiction. Witches -- Fiction. Magic -- Fiction. Salem (Mass.) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction. New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction. Salem (Mass.) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775. New York (N.Y.) Massachusetts -- Salem. Massachusetts -- Salem Paranormal fiction. Historical fiction. Fantasy fiction Fiction Historical fiction History Paranormal fiction Occult fiction. Historical fiction. Fantasy fiction. Paranormal fiction. Historical fiction. Fantasy fiction.
ISBN:	9781982108847 1982108843 * 9781982108861 9781471198946 1471198944 9781982108854 1982108851

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Fiction/Biography Profile

Characters
	Maria Owens (Female), Matriarch, Abandoned as a baby in rural England; under the care of Hannah Owens she learns thw "Nameless Arts;" learns her first important lesson
	Hannah Owens (Female), Cares for Maria; discovers that Maria is gifted; teaches her everything she knows
Genre
	Fiction
	Historical
	Occult
	Literary
Topics
	Family histories
	Witches
	Magic
	Love
	Curses
Setting
	Salem, Massachusetts - New England (U.S.)
	England - Europe
Time Period
	1600s -- 17th century

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Library Journal Review

Hoffman tells the story of Maria Owens, the ancestor of the women and men featured in Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic. It begins with Maria as an abandoned baby in 1600s England. She is taken in by Hannah Owens, a witch and healer. At Hannah's side, Maria learns to harness her innate magic. A cruel twist of fate leads Maria to leave England for Curaçao, where she meets a man and falls in love. It is only after he leaves the island without a goodbye that she discovers she is pregnant. She follows him across the sea to Salem, MA, where she is tried as a witch and sets in motion the curse that will affect her family for generations. Sutton Foster expertly narrates all of the Owens women and the men in their lives, lending each a unique personality and voice. Hoffman paints a vivid and spellbinding picture of what life was like for women at this time, and of the hysteria that surrounded the idea of women as witches both in England and in the colonies. VERDICT This audiobook is a delight and a good addition to any collection.--Courtney Pentland, Omaha, NE

Publishers Weekly Review

Hoffman's striking latest entry in her Practical Magic series (after The Rules of Magic) turns to 1664 rural England for the origin story of Maria Owens, matriarch of the series' clan of witches. Maria is discovered as an infant by Hannah Owens, a practitioner of the "Nameless Art" who raises Maria and teaches her natural remedies and witchcraft. As a girl, Maria has an innate sense of magic and emulates Hannah's desire to help the scores of women who secretly come to her for help--mostly for problems with their love lives. After Maria is reclaimed at age 10 by her birth mother, Rebecca, another Nameless Art practitioner, Maria comes to understand--like other heroines in Hoffman's "Magic" books--that love can be unexpectedly overpowering. Maria becomes ensnared in a complicated relationship and has a daughter out of wedlock. As Maria's story takes her from England to Massachusetts and New York, Hoffman offers an eye-opening account of how single women were treated in the 17th century, particularly when their knowledge or intelligence was deemed threatening. While the musings on "enchantments and remedies" grow repetitive, Maria's page-turning adventure is thoroughly enjoyable. Hoffman's redemptive story of a fiercely independent woman adds an engrossing, worthwhile chapter to the series. (Oct.)

Booklist Review

In 1600s England, Hannah Owens teaches the Nameless Art to a foundling child, Maria, a natural witch with power flowing through her bloodline. Basic tenets: Always love someone who will love you back. What you send out into the world, you will receive back threefold. When Maria meets John Hathorne and he subsequently leaves for his home of Salem, Massachusetts, she sets out after him, intent upon sharing a life. Things in Salem are not what she had envisioned, but Maria knows that "if you had the strength, you could change your fate." This prequel to Hoffman's Practical Magic (2017) reveals how the Owens women, who also appear in The Rules of Magic (1995), came to be cursed. In Hoffman's simple but luminous prose, all characters, even the villains, are not only vividly, but also compassionately, rendered. Descriptions of magic combine with herbology and folk remedy. Hoffman adeptly highlights that how one uses a talent, selflessly or selfishly, has a sweeping impact on many lives, meaning that one should always choose courage, and that love is the only answer.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hoffman's best-seller level fans, and all looking for wisely magical reads, will be seek this new tale about the powerful Owens women.

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