Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

Title: Magic Lessons
Author: Alice Hoffman
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: October 6, 2020
Pages: 416
Source/format: e-ARC//Publisher
Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

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.

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.

Magic Lessons is a celebration of life and love and a showcase of Alice Hoffman’s masterful storytelling.

M Y  T H O U G H T S

Magic Lessons is the prequel we have all been waiting for! Readers finally get a glimpse of Maria Owens's story and how the Owens's curse began. For those who are familiar with Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic, you are in for a treat.

Maria Owens was abandoned as a baby in front of Hannah Owens's home. Hannah is gifted at the Nameless Art and acted as a mentor for Maria as Maria grew during childhood. However, Maria did have a chance to find out who her birth mother and birth father are. Unfortunately, they were not all about raising Maria as a family unit due to a complex situation back in the 1600's. Maria eventually sees the harrowing death of someone she looks up to, gets sold in servitude on a boat to Curaçao, works hard to pay off her debt for freedom as a child, falls in love with a man who lives in Salem, gives birth to a child from said man, tries to locate this man in Salem, only to find out he was using her.

What Maria didn't know was that her daughter's father is actually a well-known man in Salem, MA who is married and has a child. Her heartbreak grows while a curse is a-brewing, as readers are immersed in the world of chaos. When I was reading this novel, I was silently rooting for Maria and Samuel Dias even though I know Maria steadfast in finding Faith's father.

Alice Hoffman has a gift in storytelling. She is able to narrate such a wonderful novel. Hoffman weaves historical fiction and magical realism within Magic Lessons. The pacing is steady and spans many years from when Maria was a baby to her adult years. I did enjoy reading sections where we see Faith's perspective when she flourishes helping others with the Nameless Art. Through hard work, love, regret, revenge and heartbreak, Maria lived a difficult life but she always tried to find the light beneath the darkness. She has escaped death several times. Unfortunately, her curse lives among the Owens's women for centuries to come. 

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Title: The Rules of Magic
Author: Alice Hoffman
Publisher: Simon Schuster
Publication date: October 10, 2017
Pages: 369
Source/format: Purchased//Hardcover

Rating: ☆☆☆☆1/2

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

Find your magic

For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man.

Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the sixties, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, who can read other people’s thoughts, and charismatic Vincent, who began looking for trouble on the day he could walk.

From the start Susanna sets down rules for her children: No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Back in New York City each begins a risky journey as they try to escape the family curse.

The Owens children cannot escape love even if they try, just as they cannot escape the pains of the human heart. The two beautiful sisters will grow up to be the revered, and sometimes feared, aunts in Practical Magic, while Vincent, their beloved brother, will leave an unexpected legacy.

M Y  T H O U G H T S

Do as you will, but harm no one.
What you give will be returned to you threefold.
Fall in love whenever you can.

The Rules of Magic is a prequel to Practical Magic. If you loved reading about Gillian and Sally, you will love diving into the childhood of Franny, Jet and Vincent. For most of their lives, the three siblings have to live under their parents' strict rules. Their mother hides things from them even though they know they are different. Being outcasts at school is hard enough but their mother would tell them no walking in the moonlight, no wearing black, no night-blooming flowers and etc.

One summer, the three children travel to a small town in Massachusetts from New York City to visit their Aunt Isabelle on Magnolia Street. Here is where they learned more about the black soap that their mother uses and about the curse that is upon the Owens family. Franny, Jet and Vincent each have their own personality traits, natural gifts and temperaments that set them apart from each other but they are connected by the Owens magical bloodline. Taking place starting from the 1960s until more present day, readers delve into the history of the Owens family legend while watching the three siblings grow up falling in love and dealing with heartbreak.

Alice Hoffman has a gift with words. Her descriptions are exquisite and you can smell the fragrances depicted in the novel right off the pages. There is one scene when Aunt Isabelle is making soap with the help of Franny in which the bars of soap set quickly even though the soap is made with lye. It's just a minor thing but saponification of soap is not quick and the soap needs to cure for 1-2 weeks for hot process soap and 4-6 weeks for cold process soap.

Hoffman's charming characters shine in The Rules of Magic. Readers learn to embrace family, believing in yourself and overcoming heartbreak. The Rules of Magic is a heartwarming novel yet tragic at the same time. Readers will be entranced by the whimsical magic. Just remember that "There is no remedy for love, but to love more."