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Hocus Pocus
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20 copies available
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A young magician travels across the world seeking fame and fortune all the while hiding a secret, in a novel based on the renowned, real-life Indian stage magicians performing in the United States in the 1800s.
Samuel Thomas, a man of uncertain parentage, is a young magician convinced that he is destined for greatness in a far-off land. Seeking honor and acclaim, he journeys across the globe—from India to London to the fog-shrouded streets of Boston in 1816, the infamous Year Without a Summer. In this season of unrelenting cold, Samuel arrives in a city alive with ambition, contradiction, and tension.
Enter Nathaniel in some ways a world away from Samuel, hailing from the upper echelons of Boston society, but also nursing a problem of his own. Proprietor of the New Boston Museum which is on the brink of bankruptcy, Nathaniel is desperate to find ways to keep it open—and Samuel is the ideal fit for the first live addition to the collection.
While the perfect solution to each other’s problems, the relationship between the two men quickly becomes complicated as Nathaniel grows more and more fascinated, and even obsessed, with the young foreigner. As Samuel becomes subsumed within the museum and dependent on Nathaniel, he must reckon with just how much he’s willing to give up to achieve success. Richly detailed and vividly conjured, Hocus Pocus is a story about art, ambition, and desire, and captures the crackling energy and wonder of a bygone era through the eyes of a young performer.
Samuel Thomas, a man of uncertain parentage, is a young magician convinced that he is destined for greatness in a far-off land. Seeking honor and acclaim, he journeys across the globe—from India to London to the fog-shrouded streets of Boston in 1816, the infamous Year Without a Summer. In this season of unrelenting cold, Samuel arrives in a city alive with ambition, contradiction, and tension.
Enter Nathaniel in some ways a world away from Samuel, hailing from the upper echelons of Boston society, but also nursing a problem of his own. Proprietor of the New Boston Museum which is on the brink of bankruptcy, Nathaniel is desperate to find ways to keep it open—and Samuel is the ideal fit for the first live addition to the collection.
While the perfect solution to each other’s problems, the relationship between the two men quickly becomes complicated as Nathaniel grows more and more fascinated, and even obsessed, with the young foreigner. As Samuel becomes subsumed within the museum and dependent on Nathaniel, he must reckon with just how much he’s willing to give up to achieve success. Richly detailed and vividly conjured, Hocus Pocus is a story about art, ambition, and desire, and captures the crackling energy and wonder of a bygone era through the eyes of a young performer.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication August 11, 2026
About the author
Brinda Charry
12 books122 followersBorn in India, Brinda Charry has lived in the USA for over two decades. She has published fiction in India and the UK and won several awards and prizes for her work. THE EAST INDIAN, a historical novel set in colonial America, is her American debut to be published by Scribner USA, Scribe UK, and Harper Collins-India in May 2023. Brinda is also a specialist in Shakespeare and other writers of the English Renaissance and has published numerous books and articles in that field. She considers herself a novelist-turned-academic- re-turned novelist. She lives in Keene, New Hampshire.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Hocus Pocus is based on the renowned, real-life Indian stage magicians performing in the United States in the 1800s.
Two men meat at a time when Samuel Thomas dreams of greatness in a far-off land, and Walter Mepham tries to revitalize the New Boston Museum which is on the brink of bankruptcy. They develop a relationship which is the driving force of this novel. Samuel is a man who strongly knows what he wants and he values his freedom but compromises in some aspect to work for Walter. And that also brings the aspect of how much one can bend to stay true to oneself.
In the backstory, we learn about Kumar Samee who grew up in an orphanage in Madras, India, where the magicians of the city were among the most skilled in the world. At the age of ten, he was taken from his grandparents and put into orphanage under a pretext of a better future. He was of light skin and the British officers of the East India Company saw it more fit for him to be at orphanage where he was named Samuel Thomas.
Walter Mepham is a man of a very peculiar taste, collecting things that are rare and curious. Things that seem almost as idolatry as stated by his father-in-law. George Tablot, among Boston’s wealthiest, doesn’t approve of the museum and his son-in-law. Walter’s love for his curiosities is much greater than for his wife. Sarah recognizes it and it pains her even more when Walter sends her on the missions to ask her father for money for his failing museum.
Ezra Harvey, assistant at museum, suggests bringing lecturers and performances to the museum in order to revitalize it. Walter is very peculiar in his choices but is willing to implement Ezra’s ideas to see what comes of them, but he wants the performer to be of the highest order.
Samuel, who is freshly arrived in the US from London, takes his first steps at a tavern in Boston. At twenty-five, he already considers himself to be an excellent magician and he catches the attention of Walter.
The story is richly detailed, vividly imagined and narrated with outstanding prose. At times the prose takes time to explore a subject among such themes as art, ambition and desire. Interestingly capturing the time when magic shows are all the rage across the world.
Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Two men meat at a time when Samuel Thomas dreams of greatness in a far-off land, and Walter Mepham tries to revitalize the New Boston Museum which is on the brink of bankruptcy. They develop a relationship which is the driving force of this novel. Samuel is a man who strongly knows what he wants and he values his freedom but compromises in some aspect to work for Walter. And that also brings the aspect of how much one can bend to stay true to oneself.
In the backstory, we learn about Kumar Samee who grew up in an orphanage in Madras, India, where the magicians of the city were among the most skilled in the world. At the age of ten, he was taken from his grandparents and put into orphanage under a pretext of a better future. He was of light skin and the British officers of the East India Company saw it more fit for him to be at orphanage where he was named Samuel Thomas.
Walter Mepham is a man of a very peculiar taste, collecting things that are rare and curious. Things that seem almost as idolatry as stated by his father-in-law. George Tablot, among Boston’s wealthiest, doesn’t approve of the museum and his son-in-law. Walter’s love for his curiosities is much greater than for his wife. Sarah recognizes it and it pains her even more when Walter sends her on the missions to ask her father for money for his failing museum.
Ezra Harvey, assistant at museum, suggests bringing lecturers and performances to the museum in order to revitalize it. Walter is very peculiar in his choices but is willing to implement Ezra’s ideas to see what comes of them, but he wants the performer to be of the highest order.
Samuel, who is freshly arrived in the US from London, takes his first steps at a tavern in Boston. At twenty-five, he already considers himself to be an excellent magician and he catches the attention of Walter.
The story is richly detailed, vividly imagined and narrated with outstanding prose. At times the prose takes time to explore a subject among such themes as art, ambition and desire. Interestingly capturing the time when magic shows are all the rage across the world.
Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A DELIGHTFUL historical fiction that mixes magic with the Era of Good Feelings. Brilliantly developed characters which puts you in the heart of Boston in 1816 (“The Year Without a Summer”). If you love magic this novel should be high on your list of reads this Fall. An immersive experience.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews