A prequel to [b:Practical Magic|22896|Practical Magic (Practical Magic #1)|Alice Hoffman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490354120l/22896._SY75_.jpg|4030671] and its prequel [b:The Rules of Magic|34037113|The Rules of Magic (Practical Magic, #0.2)|Alice Hoffman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492802012l/34037113._SX50_.jpg|55038896] (does that make this a pre-prequel?), Magic Lessons tells the story of Maria Owens, the ancestor who immigrated from England to the American Colonies, survived the Salem Witch Trials (even though she actually was a witch), placed the curse on any man audacious enough to fall in love with an Owens woman, and built the ancestral home on Magnolia Street.

As historical fiction, this is lovely, covering witch persecution in England and the Colonies, Dutch colonialism in Curaçao, the persecution of the Jewish people in Portugal and Spain, and the early history of Manhattan and Brooklyn. The historical details are woven artfully through the narrative. The constant lists of plants and other treatments used in the "nameless arts," were less smooth. Initially, they were charming, like this list of "Tree Magic":

Holly should be burned to announce the end of winter.
Rowan, sacred to witches for protection for making spindles and spinning wheels.
Hazel will lead to water.
Willow is sacred magic, transporting the soul.
Yew signifies life, death, and rebirth, used for bows.
. Beware: the seeds are poisonous.
Ash is sacred and healing, the leaves make a tonic for horses.
Apple is the key to magic and is used for medicine, love spells.
Birch, write spells on strips of bark and they will reach their intended.
Pine tree sap is a salve for pox and spotted fever.
The leaves of the larch tree boiled as an ointment for wounds and cuts.
Hemlock will cure swellings and sores.

By halfway through the book, I was basically skipping those sections.

And while I still found myself completely emerged in the story occasionally, I was more conscious than ever of Ms. Hoffman's tendency to TELL, TELL, and TELL some more, rather than showing (and letting readers draw their own conclusions). For example (warning, there are a few kinda sorta spoilers ahead, but nothing too specific), Maria's daughter, Faith, is separated from her mother through much of her childhood and treated horribly by the fanatical Puritan who raises her. When mother and daughter are finally reunited, Faith (understandably traumatized by her experiences) turns to dark magic, despite her mother's warnings. Ms. Hoffman tells us over and over that this is because of her experiences as if the reader cannot come to this conclusion on her own.

And the whole curse thing (the one that's basically driven the plot of the entire series), that's a bit disappointing: Maria regrets it almost immediately, and finds a way around it herself, because Samuel's love for her predated the curse and/or because he "dies" and is brought back to life. And then her discovery of the difficult cure for the curse, which she hides away in the library for some unfortunate descendant to find and carry out, , but that's apparently a problem to be dealt with in the forthcoming sequel [b:The Book of Magic: A Novel|56898179|The Book of Magic A Novel|Alice Hoffman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1612105437l/56898179._SY75_.jpg|88976021]. ( )

Read this over vacation and enjoyed it a lot. The pacing was a little fast for me, but the story chugged along and kept up. I haven't read the original book since it came out, but I remember liking it, too. The (now) third in the series, Rules of Magic, didn't appeal to me. It's fascinating that the three books can be so unique from each other, but be united by a common story.

As an aside, I hate the cover! I'm never a fan of covers that feature the characters. Inevitably, they're never represented the way I see them.

And one last thing: I found the italicized font inside (lists of useful herbs, etc). almost unreadable. The letters ran together. After the first few I found myself just skipping over those passages. They don't really add to the story anyway. ( )

very good ( )

3.5 Stars

Really enjoyed this novel even though I am not a fan of Magic realism books but I am a fan of historical fiction. I love Alice Hoffman’s writing and her beautifully drawn characters and could not resist downloading this one after reading friends reviews. I believe this is a prequel to Practical Magic so I have at least the advantage of starting this series at the beginning

Set in the 17th Century we follow the story of Maria Owens who has been abandoned as a baby and brought up by a witch called Hannah. Magic Lessons follows Maria’s life and that of her daughter Faith and by the end of this one I felt I was well equipped to Maggie up a few magic potions myself.

For someone who doesn’t love magic realism I do enjoy novels which feature the Salem Witch Trials and Magic Lessons does take us to this place and time.
I love Alice Hoffman’s ability to tell a story as she sucks you in from the very first page. Vivid and entertaining characters and a wonderful sense of time and place as she weaves a beautiful story of history and magic.

I listened to this one on audible and the narrator Sutton Foster was excellent. This is my third novel by this author and I am hoping to read [b:The Dovekeepers|10950924|The Dovekeepers|Alice Hoffman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1306253903l/10950924._SY75_.jpg|15868401] next as a few of my Goodread’s friends have highly recommended it.

A perfect by the fireside read for this time of year a great escapism novel. ( )

I received a complimentary digital copy of this arc book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

It all begins in 1664 when Hannah Owens finds baby Maria wrapped in a blue blanket in the woods. She brings the baby to her secluded cottage in the woods where she raises her as her own. She discovers that Maria is not an ordinary child as she quickly learns the healing properties of herbs. Having been an orphan herself, Hannah takes pride in teaching Maria how to read and write which are valuable tools during this time period.

Maria’s life is turned upside down when her biological mother shows up to claim Maria after many years. She carries her own secrets of the past and reasons for abandoning Maria in the forest. Her life is at stake when she learns about her family history and the curse that lingers through the generations. When Maria is 16 years old she becomes pregnant by an influential married man. When her daughter Faith is 5 years old they flee to Massachusetts after persuading Captain Abraham Dias to allow them passage to the states. He is convinced when she is able to care for his 25 year old son Samuel who is stricken with dengue.

Again, the story of the Owens family is not typical and filled with intrigue and mystery. The lessons of magic are delicate and sacred not to be entrusted to those who do not value its purpose. ( )

**3.5 Stars**
I found that I really liked this story at the beginning and at the end, but it felt like it dragged in the middle, which took a lot out of my momentum. The intertwined stories of Maria and Faith, how they grow up experiencing love and discovering how to use their magic. The connection to the Salem witch trials was nice to see as well. Once can appreciate the underlying message of the story of love, how love aids us, brings us together, how it can hurt us, and how it can heal us. Overall, as prequels go, I liked this one. ( )

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS
(Print: 10/6/2020; 978-1982108847; Simon & Schuster; 416 pages)
Audio: 10/6/2020; 9781797111254; Simon & Schuster Audio; duration 13:35:01 (13 parts).
(Film: No).

Series:
Practical Magic Book 0.1 (so, of course, a prequel written after the first two in the “Practical Magic” series.)

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
When I read about the Salem Witch trials in a book called “The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem” by Stacy Schiff, I was very thankful I had not lived in that place in those times, but Hoffman’s protagonist, Maria, does, and scarier, she IS a witch. Now you’d think, being a witch, one could get out of trouble, or would at the very least attempt to keep out of harms way, knowing just where it is…but, true to life, that’s not quite how it works. Not that this story IS completely true to life—we’ll go with ‘magic realism’.
This was my first Alice Hoffman book, and not knowing what to expect, I vacillated throughout this book with whether I liked it, overall, and had to keep postponing my decision. I generally need to like the protagonist to like a book. But now that you know that, I cannot say whether or not I liked it without spoiling it for you.
I did like that, according to the story, my husband was born on the luckiest day of the year (March 20). . . I think that’s what it said. Lucky, anyway. And, this will be meaningless to you also, but I also like that the author and the narrator are both Pisces. ( )

A beautifully written addition to the Practical Magic series. It has the perfect mixture of historical fiction and magic realism. I am looking forward to the next installment! ( )

Fantastically Magical!!! ( )

Suspending progress... While I am THRILLED to have snagged an advance copy (thank you, Tonie!), it was veering a little too close to disturbingly dark for me, at this time. Can't wait to come back to it when I am a little more resilient with such tones.

I'm losing the will to live: another three star bloater. Practical Magic is one of my favourite films, but the books are romance novels with literary pretensions. The author rhapsodises on the meaning of love so often that she sounds like the Love Is ... cartoons by Kim Casali from the 1960s. Why have a prequel about a strong woman like Maria Owens, the female ancestor who escapes hanging when the rope breaks, and make her a blithering idiot who falls for the first charmer she meets? Why make her story about men at all? Maria is the daughter of a witch who is raised by another woman also skilled in the 'Nameless Art', and her daughter Faith is even more powerful, yet half of the overblown and repetitive story is wasted on wall art philosophy like 'love someone who will love you back'. The author's only saving grace is her historical research and wry take on the hypocritical 'Puritans' of New England and the men - of course - who labelled as witches and then murdered women for not following the rules. So much for the New World! ( )

Going into this my only experience with Alice Hoffman or the Owens family was the movie Practical Magic, and getting through this was difficult at times because it has a very different tone. This is very much a novel of historical fiction, and there are a lot of difficult situations (based on historical truths) that need to be grappled with. It wasn’t really “fun” to read, for the most part, but I’m glad I stuck with it. Also, it really made me want to get a pair of red boots. ( )

As others have said, there are parts that are fantastic and then it slogs. Over and over again.

Weren't we supposed to learn why the men who Owen woman fall in love with are cursed? If it was revealed I've forgotten. Some stuff we are beaten over the head with but this detail is lost on me. [ETA: I started listening to the last book in the series and I understand now. She had fallen in love and had a child with a man that was one person when she met him overseas but a completely different person back in Massachusetts, USA. He is a historical figure and part of a dark part of American history.]

Listened on audio. ( )

I am really digging this series! I loved the tidbits of history woven into the story. I especially loved all the NY history since I grew up there. This book fleshes out Maria and her motivations, which is nice because in the first book you kinda get the feeling that she was this severe woman and she was, but not in the way that you think. I'm super intrigued about the last book and what's going to happen. ( )

This book chronicles the life of Maria Owens from an abandoned baby in the forest to a woman with a child of her own. Maria isn't any ordinary child or woman though -- she's a witch. Her heritage puts her at risk in her home country of England and later when she moves to Salem, Massachusetts as well.

This book is part of a saga about the Owens family. I really debated for a while about how to dive into this series because while this is the first in the chronology of the family, it is a prequel written after other stories were already out there. In the end, I chose this one and I don't think I was thrown off by anything, although there could have been little nods or Easter eggs that I missed.

On the whole, I liked this book. The beginning was a tad slow, but it eventually came together. Maria was an interesting character, as were the other folks around her. I liked how Hoffman slowly introduced characters over time rather than bombarding the reader with a ton of names and backstories all at once. I also enjoyed how she mixed complete fiction with historical tidbits; it seemed as if she really did her research although I did not fact check anything. In a similar vein, she combined standard lore about witches in with her own inventions of magic.

For the audiobook listener, Sutton Foster did a really good job of bringing to life all these different characters so the reader did feel like these were all real folks. ( )

The beginning was interesting, the middle was good, the end seemed to drag. While it was a good book overall, the pacing didn’t feel quite right. Good book nonetheless ( )

Do you ever read a new book, and instantly it feels like home?

Magic Lessons had that affect on me. Maybe because Practical Magic was apart of my childhood, or maybe because it was written in such a way that couldn't help but make your emotions intertwined with the story. Either way, I was sad to turn the last page.

They story of Maria Owens felt familiar, yet new. I did not expect the way it ended at all, but yet deep down, I knew it was going to happen. So many lessons were learned between these pages. Of loss, hope, revenge, forgiveness, perseverance and most of all love.

This book gives depth to [b:Practical Magic|22896|Practical Magic (Practical Magic #1)|Alice Hoffman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1490354120l/22896._SY75_.jpg|4030671]. Made me feel like I was reading reality not fiction. At times I couldn't help but google random lessons written in the pages just to check if Alice made them up or if she researched witches. I won't spoil which it is for you.

Instead I will leave you with Maria's update to Hannah's rules:
Do as you will, but harm no one.
What you give will be returned to you threefold.
Fall in love whenever you can.

While I know you'll love this book if you love the world created by Alice Hoffman. Even if you haven't read any of her books, but love witches, you'll enjoy discovering the life of Maria Owens. ( )

I received a complimentary digital copy of this arc book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

It all begins in 1664 when Hannah Owens finds baby Maria wrapped in a blue blanket in the woods. She brings the baby to her secluded cottage in the woods where she raises her as her own. She discovers that Maria is not an ordinary child as she quickly learns the healing properties of herbs. Having been an orphan herself, Hannah takes pride in teaching Maria how to read and write which are valuable tools during this time period.

Maria’s life is turned upside down when her biological mother shows up to claim Maria after many years. She carries her own secrets of the past and reasons for abandoning Maria in the forest. Her life is at stake when she learns about her family history and the curse that lingers through the generations. When Maria is 16 years old she becomes pregnant by an influential married man. When her daughter Faith is 5 years old they flee to Massachusetts after persuading Captain Abraham Dias to allow them passage to the states. He is convinced when she is able to care for his 25 year old son Samuel who is stricken with dengue.

Again, the story of the Owens family is not typical and filled with intrigue and mystery. The lessons of magic are delicate and sacred not to be entrusted to those who do not value its purpose.
( )

This book is a very good prequel to Hoffman's previous works (Practical Magic; The Rules of magic). Readers will enjoy the story even if they haven't read the previously published novel; although, I think those who are familiar with the other two books might get more out of it. I quite enjoyed the book although the beginning of some chapters read a bit like history lessons; but this happened just in interspersed places, since most of the book does a great job combining historical facts, magical realism, and reference to the series.
Must read for Alice Hoffman's fans ( )

Alice Hoffman has been a favorite author of mine for years. This prequel to her Practical Magic series was engrossing. I love the history lessons which the author puts into all of her works. This book will not disappoint long time fans.

Magic Lessons tells the story of the beginnings of the Owens' family, following the journey of Maria, the baby left in the snow and rescued by Hannah Owens. After tragedy forces her from her home, Maria travels from England to Curacao as an indentured servant, then to Salem, Massachusetts as the witch hunts have begun, and finally to New York. Along the way she gives birth to a daughter, Faith, who takes a different path from her mother.

Alice Hoffman has crafted a rich, complex tale that explores the darkness of human beings when confronted with the unknown. Hannah, Maria and Faith are all healers, working mostly with women providing both natural and magical remedies for ailments of the body and spirit. The scenes in Salem where Maria goes to find Faith's father are particularly frightening as we consider the current state of affairs when it comes to women.

I bought all three books in the series so will be starting the next one soon!

**Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review**

I finished this book in one day and found it very difficult to put it down. I loved learning the back story of Maria, her family, and the curse.

This is a prequel that rounds out the entire series. This is the story of Maria, how she came to have the name of Owens, and the love that taught her magic. Maria learns that even a witch with years of training can misunderstand visions and not magic can keep people from finding love if it's true.

The book takes you through Maria's life and how she learns to deal with her magic, true heartbreak, and true love. It leads perfectly into what we have already read in Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic and it was a pleasure to read how this amazing magical family started and the strength they get their magic from.

( )

Another great book in the Practical Magic series. If you liked the other books in the series, this is a must read. ( )

The pre-prequel to “Practical Magic”, this book takes us to the 1600s and the life of Maria Owens. Abandoned at birth, she is found and raised by the local witch in rural England. She proves to have great talent for magic, as well as being taught to read and write. When her adoptive mother is killed by a witch hunter, Maria finds her birth mother- also a witch. When her father makes a surprise reappearance, the three of them flee the area. They tell Maria she cannot stay with them, and she finds herself on the way to the New World, although not in the way that she thinks is happening. Maria ends up having a lot of adventures on her way to Salem, and they don’t end when she finds her way there. She ends up pronouncing a curse, that will keep any Owens from finding love for long- and also learns that love is, in the end, all that really matters.
While not quite as good as “Practical Magic” (nothing is), it’s a book I liked much better than I liked the middle book, “Rules of Magic”. It is a stay-up-all-night-reading-it book. Five stars. ( )

Magic to Change your Heart

I am in love with dark forests and starry nights. I have given my heart to black crows and Indian wolves. My soul has been transported somewhere between the riotous colors of the Spice Islands and the shadowy green waters of New England.

I have read a book about baseless cruelty, undeserved prejudice and needless death. I have read of love, between mothers and daughters; of love and loyalty between lovers and of the finest of all, love "that is always the answer."

Alice Hoffman leaves me simultaneously speechless and full of images, smells and stuffed full of dreams. Magic Lessons is a smorgasbord for lovers of prose and poetry for it weaves together, words, ideas and feelings in a lyrical tome to be kept forever in your heart.

Read this book. Give it to your mom or your daughter or your lover. Read it out loud together. Laugh, cry, but read it. It will become a part of you.
( )