"Love could ruin your life or set you free; it could happen by choice or be a well-planned decision."
Magic Lessons, Alice Hoffman
Magic Lessons is the newest prequel to Practical Magic. This is my first book in the Practical Magic series (can you believe Practical Magic is over 25 years old?!), but I don't think this affected my enjoyment of the novel at all. It's witchy, emotional, and captivating.
Magic Lessons is the origin story of the Owens women and the curse that follows the men who love them. It begins in England with Maria Owens, the matriarch of the Owens bloodline. As a young girl, Maria is sold as an indentured servant and shipped off to New England where she begins to practise the Nameless Art of magic. Always willing to help out a friend or neighbour in need, Maria does her best to spread kindness where she can. However, she is unable to heed her mother's warnings about protecting her own heart, and she falls for a man who cannot care for her in return.
This is a book that asks to be read slowly, as you savour the descriptive writing and the magical recipes throughout. Hoffman's lush writing really transports the reader to the time and place of the novel, which happens to be Salem during the witch trials of 1690s. This is a tale of courage, trauma, mental wellbeing, survival, revenge, and, above all, the many different kinds of love.
Hoffman writes characters incredibly well, even Maria's crow, Cadin, has his own, unique personality and is a true character in this novel.
In Magic Lessons, Alice Hoffman illustrates for us how the truest bonds of love can never be broken, even with magic.
Magic Lessons is out now and available from your favourite bookseller or library. Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me a copy to enjoy. I definitely look forward to picking up the other books in the series, and I especially cannot wait to finally watch the Practical Magic movie!
xo
Jenn
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