Will I love Magic Lessons?

This turned out my favorite so far of Hoffman's books! I actually hugged it to my chest after I was done reading it.

Given it's a prequel to Practical Magic and the rest of that series, you can start with this book whether or not you have knowledge of those others (though I have read two of them). Though it's a historical novel, it never feels overly heavy on the historical detail. It's lively and intriguing and deliciously spooky.

Though it features John Hathorne, real-life magistrate in the Salem witch trials, and also includes bits of those trials, this story… show more.

I love stories that weave magic into the plot in real settings that make it seem obvious that, of course, there’s magic in that place. Throw in an origin story about a family lineage of witches who are all strong women who will need to figure out how to be there for each other. That’s my jam—the idea of community and vulnerability mixed with a fast-moving plot and a little romance.

Alice Hoffman’s Magic Lessons is the last in her Practical Magic series that chronicles 200 years of dark secrets that each generation of the Owens family must grapple with. We follow protagonist Maria Owens from her childhood in England to the Caribbean, Massachusetts, and finally New York, carrying her legacy with her. The complexity of mother-daughter relationships, generational wounds, family secrets, plus a good dose of witchcraft and magic holds the tension throughout not only this book, but across the entire series. Part historical fiction, part magical realism, part family saga – Hoffman shows us that, in the end, it’s… show more.