Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Alice Hoffman is a prolific American novelist writing for both adults and children; she has published 42 books over a period of more than 45 years. Many of her works fall into the genre of magic realism and contain elements of magic, irony, and non-standard romances and relationships. This is the second book of hers that I’ve read, the first one was The Marriage of Opposites published in 2015. This novel relates a lyrical story about forbidden love set on the tropical island of St. Thomas, a fictional tale about the extraordinary woman who gave birth to the painter Camille Pissarro, a major leader of the Impressionist Movement.
Magic Lessons was published in 2020 and is one of 4 books in Hoffman’s Practical Magic Series and takes the reader on a long journey about love - both filial and amorous. Set in 17th. century England, the Caribbean and the American colonies it’s an imaginative tale about spells, potions and rituals that give the reader a look into the healing properties of white magic and a taste of the dark world of black magic – but beware whatever you put out into the world will come back to you threefold.
The story is also about revenge where one of the main characters, Faith, punishes her father for abandoning and mistreating her mother, Maria. The reader might also see the book as a tribute to women’s struggle against misogyny, malice and bigotry. Here the author uses the symbols of church-going hypocrites of both sexes as they resolutely carry out what they refer to as God’s work – these images reinforce how her strong leading characters overcome threats of torture, banishment and death. The book has two endearing and faithful non-human characters – a crow called Cadin and a wolf named Keeper who protect Maria and her daughter Faith and add some light humor to the story.
Hoffman’s style of writing might not appeal to every reader – it’s highly descriptive, some may say wordy and over-blown. At times it’s like reading poetry except it’s actually prose you are reading. Her style certainly held my attention because it’s so original and so imaginative. The way she describes her spells that keep evil at bay and her potions that heal the sick and the rituals of both white and black witchcraft I found entertaining and credible.

This review was written by Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series.




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Magic Lessons