Magic Lessons: Book #1 of the Practical Magic Series
In this “ bewitching” (The New York Times Book Review) 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.
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 “Nameless 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.
Magic Lessons is a “heartbreaking and heart-healing” (BookPage) celebration of life and love and a showcase of Alice Hoffman’s masterful storytelling.
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Community Reviews
It took me some time to get through the first 3 chapters. I was afraid at first it was not a book for me, but then I fell in love with the book. It may have been the development of character backstory that may have been too much for me at first but then the book bloomed and I was enthralled with all of the characters. There were times I didn’t want to put the book down but at others had to because my heart was overwhelmed.
An excellent prequel to Practical Magic that had me in its grasp from the very first page. The book unravels the story of where the Owens Sister curse originated in the late 1600’s as it follows Maria Owens as she learns and strengthens the powers her bloodline have provided and finds out firsthand how things can turn quickly if she didn’t heed the advice given to her in life and in love. A wonderful story that kept me enthralled into the end.
Although published third, Magic Lessons (2020) is chronologically book 1 in Hoffman's Practical Magic Series: Practical Magic (1995, book 3), The Rules of Magic (2017, book 2), and The Book of Magic (2021, book 4). I have read the series as the books have been released, so as a reader of the series, I have been continuously moving back in time since reading Practical Magic in 1998 and The Rules of Magic in 2018. Reading the books in publication order and over a long span of years makes the subject matter, which is so wrapped up in the importance of memory in the Owens' heritage-based witchcraft, especially poignant as time challenges my memories of the last book with each return to this world. Like all Hoffman books, the magic is often liminal and inextricably tied to nature and natural phenomena, which allows the reader to become invested in the magic before the more ostentatiously magical events occur. The magic is also part of the character development, so how it manifests in Maria Owens is quite different than how it manifests in her daughter Faith. Given that the craft in this world is matrilineal, each woman's decisions as a mother impact her daughter's practice of her innate magic. And beyond actions of the mother, other environmental aspects also impact their magic, emphasizing through both character development and plot points that magic is informed by both nature and nurture. As always, Hoffman's attention to research is evident in the pages. Some readers have criticized what they perceive to be historical tangents. I did not find these sections to be tangential but part of the character development, and because this book's characters interact and pivot with their world, I found the historical, "factoid" sections to be well integrated. It explained their actions, restraints, friction, etc. Once I read the final book in the series, I will then re-read the series in chronological order to see how my reading experience changes, but to finally meet Maria, after being introduced to her as an ancestral character in Practical Magic 23 years ago, was well worth the wait.
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