*Disclaimer: I was kindly gifted a copy of this book by Jonathan Ball Publishers in exchange for an honest review.
♤ PUBLISHED: November 2020 ♤ PAGES: 396 ♤ GENRE: Historical Fiction, Paranormal Fiction ♤
Have you ever read a book about a theme that you’re not that familiar with? Many of us will answer yes, and this time I’m raising my hand in the air and answering ‘yes‘. The main theme in Magic Lessons are witches, and the closest I have come to witches was the T.V show Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Magic Lessons written by Alice Hoffman is the prequel to Practical Magic written in 1995 which was later adapted to a film with the same name. I haven’t watched the film, so the Owens family is new to me.
The book is divided into 6 parts. In Part 1, Transformations, we are taken back to 1664 where Hannah Owens discovers an abandoned child in the snow accompanied by a black crow which Maria (the baby) names Cadin, her familiar. Every witch has a familiar. Throughout the chapters Hannah teaches Maria about the different kinds of magic, she is not only her teacher but also acts as her mother. She teaches Maria how to help those who need healing. Heartbreaking moments follow after a woman named Rebecca knocks on Hannah’s door. Maria finds herself on a ship taken to Curaçao, a Dutch Island where she is to work for the Jansen family of Willemstad until she is sixteen.
A familiar is such a creature, an animal or bird that sees inside to the very soul of its human companion, and knows what others might not.
Here Maria is introduced to love. She meets John Hathorne and from here everything goes south. He goes back to where he comes from, Massachusetts, and Maria is left alone to raise their baby daughter, Faith. In Part 2, Talisman, we are in 1680 where Maria decides to go find John Hathorne, the love of her life. But what she thought to be love was actually pain. On her way to John, she meets and cares for a sick man named Samuel Dias. Here things take a different turn. In the meantime Maria teaches Faith of the Nameless Art until Martha Chase comes to destroy everything.
I do not want to go into further detail as I might spoil the story. The reader will experience a mix of emotions and will learn to love some characters and hate others. I particularly loved the character of Samuel Dias. Even though this book did not grab my attention, it is well-written. I think fans of Practical Magic will find this book amazing.
If you enjoyed The Once and Future Witches by Alix. E Harrow you will enjoy this book.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alice Hoffman is the author of more than thirty works of fiction, including The World That We Knew, The Rules of Magic, The Marriage of Opposites, Practical Magic, The Red Garden, the Oprah’s Book Club selection Here on Earth, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, and The Dovekeepers. Her most recent novel is Magic Lessons. She lives near Boston.
Willow's Corner 