A nice enough story to read as the evenings draw in. I appreciated the historical context and the mention of various herbal remedies plus their connections to folklore. No doubt fans of The Owens will enjoy this further piece of the picture; I had hoped that I would enjoy it more but not really my cup of (Courage) tea.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK and NetGalley for the digital copy provided for review purposes.

I'm an Alice Hoffman fan and this book definitely didn't disappoint. I loved Practical Magic, and it was so nice to return to these characters in the perfect Autumn season. Amazing, indulgent writing that I couldn't get enough of, great story.
Highly recommend the whole series.
Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

Magic Lessons brings us back to the origins of the Owens family we've grown to love while reading Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic. Maria is abandoned as a baby in the Essex countryside and discovered by the caring Hannah Owens. Hannah raises Maria as her own child, teaching her all she knows about herbs, healing and the 'Unknown Arts'. We follow Maria's life, which takes us all over the world, to the tropical island of Curacao, to Salem, Massachusetts and New York City. Along the way, Maria learns more of magic from each new location she lives at and the women she interacts with, adding her knowledge to her Grimoire. Maria has sworn not to fall in love, after seeing its impact on others but she soon finds out that it's easier said than done....

This book was a delight to read! Especially this time of the year, it's so atmospheric. Each new location Maria lives in has a different, unique energy portrayed through the rich descriptions. Essex is forest greens, drizzle, country flowers. Curacao is the heat, bright exotic birds and the turquoise dazzling sea. Salem is black, white and shades of grey, with the cold and snow and the unexpected bright burst of Maria and her cottage. New York is bustling with people and noise, all brick and smokiness. But I know others reading it would conjure up their own colours, sounds and smells while reading it. The storyline was captivating, though there was a bit in the middle where it dragged a small bit. I liked the characters and how they progressed through the book. I love seeing the hints and throwbacks to the other novels, such as the ticking beetle and red shoes. I like that with the 3 books you can really read them in any order. You could read them in the order they were released, working your way back through the family tree. Or you could start with this book, read The Rules of Magic and finish with Practical Magic to work your way down through history. If you like rich, witchy books, especially within the realm of historical fiction, this book is for you. Its magical

‘Magic lessons’ by Alice Hoffman, tells the story of Maria Owens, the matriarch of the line of witches depicted in Hoffman’s earlier novel ‘Practical Magic.’

For lovers of ‘practical magic,’ I’m sure this novel will be something you will rush to read and very much enjoy. However, having not read the first book, I found this one a little bit puzzling. Maria seems such a force of nature, and focussed upon making her own destiny, but like her mother before her falls in love with an inappropriate man (with minimal encouragement), to her downfall. I’m sure this is needed to explain the family tree, but I personally found this annoying and caused her character at times to seem a bit insipid. Hoffman often writes about the different herbs and what they can cure and I found this impressive, but ultimately skippable. The males in the novel often seemed like cartoon villains.

Ultimately I guess this novel wasn’t for me, but will be adored by people who have already fallen in love with the characters and Hoffman’s magical world.

Maria is found as a baby by wise woman Hannah Owens, who brings her up with the old ways. Maria learns how to grow a healing garden, to use herbs for ailments of body and mind, and help women with problems caused by love. However, Maria’s power isn’t just learned. She has the mark of a blood witch from her birth mother, and has been chosen by her familiar Cadin who is a crow. Maria feels she must be the result of a woman being fooled by love and vows not to be taken in by a man. Tragically, Hannah is burned as a witch and Maria knows she must run to save her life. She meets her mother and birth father, and realising there is no room in their love for a third person she takes a gift of red boots and sails to the island of Curacao where she has been sold into servitude for a period of five years. Here, her vow against love will be tested. Taking us through the dangerous years of the 17th Century, where Puritanical communities like Salem in Massachusetts were whipped to hysteria, and would not suffer a witch to live. Hoffman’s prequel to Practical Magic takes us back to the beginnings of the Owens family and the complicated relationship between their power and the very human need to be loved.

I had been waiting for this prequel for a long time and I wasn’t disappointed. It only took me moments to be in Hoffman’s magical world thanks to the layers of description she uses to create an unusual atmosphere. In some senses she creates an instantly recognisable sense of place. Her descriptions of Massachusetts, and later, Brooklyn are full of local floral and fauna, the sense of wilderness and pioneering spirit within these early settlers of the Americas. It is dark, foggy, wet and often icily cold with dangerous animals and even more dangerous people. By contrast the time spent travelling to the West Indies and the beautiful island of Curacao are vivid. In the daytime full of colour, exotic flowers and birds and I could feel the sun on my face, the warm sand beneath my feet and the incredible animals such as the turtles and tiny hummingbirds. By night, when Maria and her friend explore the island, it is still warm, with a vast sky full of stars. On the other hand there are times when these places seem otherworldly as we see them through the eyes of a witch: the magical properties of plants, the incredible loyalty of an wild animal like Keeper the wolf, and the witches’ power to control these elements to their advantage. It’s our world but not quite. The difference is viewing it through the lens of history, but most unimportantly, by magic.

There were times I didn’t fully understand Maria, although she’s the more sympathetic character of the three generations. She protects herself against love after seeing what it did to her mother, but then later says she couldn’t protect herself against love. I think this is almost a push and pull between the human and more magical signs of her character. She tries to use her power to prevent love, but perhaps her heart truly longs for it. The tragedy is in protecting herself against the right man, while letting the wrong one in. I find her choice to go to Massachusetts with her daughter Faith inexplicable given that she has friends and support in Curacao. John Hathorne is a very dangerous man, to women in general and not just the witches he persecutes. He drags young girls into a battle he is constantly fighting between his appetites and his conscience. There is part of him that emerged in Curacao that wants to shed his responsibilities, to throw off inhibition and dive into the sea as well as give in to his passions for a woman he desires. In Massachusetts he is a pillar of the Puritan community, yet he marries his wife Ruth when she is just 14 and his ward. She describes crying as he takes her to the marital bed, but her fear and young age does not stop him. It’s worth mentioning that in a historical context this isn’t unusual, but to me it shows a lack of compassion and respect for women. He turns his back on his daughter, both when she’s a baby and when she returns as a young woman. Maria, his wife Ruth and his daughter Faith are all his victims. Samuel, or Gogo as Faith calls him, is a good man and I was desperate for him to win Maria over. He is not scared of Maria or her power. He loves her intelligence, her fortitude and her power. I could have cried for how much time is wasted as Maria fights him.

I enjoyed the way Hoffman weaves in the historical context for America in this period. These are early settlements, some first colonised by the Dutch then by the English. She doesn’t forget the indigenous tribes either, often completely massacred by these ‘Christian communities’ who hold themselves in such high regard. They hold women with healing knowledge in the same regard as these natives of USA, as if they are cleansing their area of magical and primitive beliefs. Hoffman doesn’t forget her Jewish heritage either, situating them as a persecuted race often moved on from areas they’ve settled and treated with suspicion. We see this in the characters of Samuel and his father, who have chosen a life on the sea instead, but still hold their heritage close to their hearts. There’s a sense in which Christianity is anti-magic whereas Judaism is closer to ancient magic and respectful of its power, especially in its capacity to do good. The only time Samuel stops Maria from practicing her magic is when it’s in a darker form, as she tries everything to keep his father alive. The Christian beliefs practised by the Dutch and English settlers has become corrupted and Hoffman presents their acts as the very evil they fear. When Maria is taken for the trial by drowning in Massachusetts, there is a frenzy and mob like mentality that is seen later in real life witch trials of Salem and the fictional arrest and trial endured by Faith. When Faith is taken by a Christian woman, confined and forced to live as her daughter we again see obsession and evil. Her captor never seems to doubt she is doing God’s work removing Faith from her mother, taking her far away and putting her in irons to remove her power. Yet this evil, begets more evil as Faith escapes and uses her freedom to practice blood magic steeped in anger and revenge. Yet she still has a conscience. Faith is haunted by the death of her captor, despite helping women to wreak revenge and enchantment by night.

I would have liked to see a more time between John Hathorne’s wife Ruth and Maria, because they were both exploited by the same man. I also think that there was perhaps too much complex detail in the women’s appearances such as Faith’s changing hair colour or the different colours of thread used for different purposes. I found myself becoming confused at times, but it’s a small issue in a magical story. I think this was a thoughtful and atmospheric origins story of a family many fans have come to love. I think the strength of this series is in that combination of the mystical and the very human elements of the story. Despite their powers Maria, her mother Rebecca and her daughter Faith experience the highs and lows of every woman’s life - the changes of adolescence, falling in love with the wrong man and the right one, motherhood, illness and ageing. I felt emotional as Maria saw her ‘mother figure’ Hannah murdered by men who feared her, as she realised the man she loved didn’t really exist, and as she lost Cadin her loyal companion. These women’s fight to be accepted and even acknowledged for their skills is a fight that continues today as we fight for women’s rights to equal pay, to save reproductive rights and to be seen as more than sexual objects. Their fight to stay alive is still echoed in our fight to stop child brides, exploitation of young girls and domestic abuse. It was a series coming full circle, as we see the formation of that mistrust of love that shapes Jet’s journey or that sees Gillian constantly pick the wrong man. I truly loved my time back with the Owens women again.

To feature on my blog on October 31st

Despite my excitement I was anxious to begin this novel in case my high expectations were unfounded and there are times I struggle to read historical fiction, which this is. I need not have worried; the arrival of Maria into Hannah Owen’s life captivated me, and I remained in her world for hours; I did not want to stop reading.

Maria’s early carefree childhood with Hannah was a joy to read and connected me to her and Cadin, making the rest of the book an emotional ride as she travels across the globe to end up in Salem, Massachusetts. As a reader, you know the danger she will face when she blindly believes she will be fine. This knowledge added to the tension. The novel is short on dialogue which surprised me because it is a rare these days but I found I did not miss it because of Alice Hoffman’s talent for setting the scene, her magical prose and the observations of love in all its guises. The study of love with its joy and dangers is the core of this novel; it brings lightness, warmth, darkness, and destruction.

It is a well-researched historical fiction as seen in the lists of herbs, and spells written in the Owen’s grimoires and highlights the prejudice against women who are different and do not follow the social constructs created by men and the dangers they faced.

I have not read Practical Magic yet, and it is years since I watched the film, so my memory of her story was vague. I would be interested to hear what others with a firmer grounding of the curse think of Maria’s tale and the origin of the curse. Though this book is part of a series, you can easily read it as a standalone.

Would I recommend?
Alice Hoffman is a queen of magical storytelling, making Magic Lessons a pleasure to read. This emotional novel has depth, and I came away with the desire to wear my red boots with pride and the lessons of the Owens are tattooed in my heart.

The story of Maria Owens is something I always wanted and now that it's finally here it doesn't disappoint. This book explains the life of Maria and the curse that haunted the Owens family for generations.
Love, revenge, spells, magic, a strong heroine, redemption, courage, witch trials and lessons of life! It has everything for a truly atmospheric read, pick it up today.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher/author for a copy to review

This is the third book in the Practical Magic series and is kind of an origins story, taking place before the events in Rules of Magic.  . The book tells the story of Maria Owens, the witch first introduced to at the beginning of Practical Magic.  The story starts in 1600s England.  The abandoned baby witch is found in the woods by a crow who becomes her familiar and by Hannah Owens, a woman who is clearly a witch herself and who becomes Maria's mother and teacher.  Though Maria is a natural witch and hardly needs to be taught at all.  A few years later some awful things happen in England and Maria is shipped off across the Atlantic to start a new life.  Those readers familiar with the earlier books and fans of the movie will have a good idea of some of what follows, and I am not going to give any more details here for fear of spoilers to anyone new to the Owens' story.

Now I am, sadly, going to be brutally honest in expressing my feelings about this book, and have to say this is the hardest review I have written this year.  Firstly, I love Practical Magic (the book and the movie) and I absolutely adored Rules of Magic.  But this latest book, for me, largely lacked the atmosphere, heart and most of all the 'magic' that made Practical Magic and Rules of Magic so wonderful.  For a book of 400 pages it took me an awful long time to read, and I found it quite repetitive at times. There are constant lists, particularly of spells and their ingredients and uses.  Whilst some of these were quite interesting at first, some were repeated more than just once or twice, particularly in relation to the magical teas, whose ingredients and properties were repeated multiple times. I wouldn't normally be so scathing in a review but I love the movie and other books in the series and this new book has, quite frankly, disappointed me so much and it really breaks my heart to say so.

But these are only my opinions, and I would still say 'give it a go' to fans of the Owens' story who are looking for completeness, though readers new to the saga might enjoy the story more by starting with one of the other two, excellent, books.

Full disclosure before I start: I have DNFd 'Practical Magic' on at least three occasions. I love the film, but really I had no business requesting Magic Lessons and I went into it with a great deal of trepidation. Apparently low expectations are the way to go though because I LOVED this so so much. I don't give five stars out lightly, but Magic Lessons honestly deserved more. Telling the story of three generations of the Owens family, it left me wounded and frustrated and satisfied and at peace and overall just left my heart very very full.

The exploration of the origins of the curse will feed the curiosity of any Practical Magic fan, but the historical elements, the interwoven spells and remedies, the familial bonds, and the feminist tones throughout should appeal to any fan of witchery.

I don't think you have to be a fan of Practical Magic to enjoy this book - I haven't watched the film in a long while and didn't feel at any point like I was missing out. This is the perfect autumn read - excellently paced, wonderfully engaging, and just a genuinely brilliant piece of storytelling. I think it might be time to try Practical Magic again.

"What men could not understand, they wished to burn."

A thousand thanks to NetGalley, Hoffman, and Simon and Schuster UK for the review copy. This one is available to purchase now!

Alice Hoffman is an excellent storyteller and I count her among my favourite authors. Having loved The Rules of Magic I was looking forward to Magic Lessons. I will admit that usually I would not read a book set in 1600s Salem but given that this was written by Hoffman I was more than happy to give this book a chance...once I started Magic Lessons however I soon grew bored. Not only do we have a narrative that is all telling and no showing but we also get countless lists detailing the ingredients and steps in spells that don't really play an important role in the story. The scarcity of dialogue distanced me from the characters and their storylines. A lot of scenes that would have benefited from being more fleshed out are recounted in a rather swift manner. While I hope that other fans of Hoffman will be able to fall in love with Magic Lessons, I can't help but be deeply disappointed by it as I know that Hoffman can do a lot better than this

I love Alice Hoffman's books. I discovered her after watching the film Practical Magic (starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman) and gradually worked my way through her backlist. Since Practical Magic was originally published she has written two prequels: The Rules of Magic (a story about the aunts from Practical Magic) and now Magic Lessons, which explains the origin of the family curse - that any man who ever loves an Owens woman will be broken in body and soul.
The story starts in 1664 when a baby girl is found abandoned in a snowy field close to the cottage of Hannah Owens, a herbalist and healer who has taught herself magic. When Hannah unwraps the baby's blanket she recognises an unusual birthmark shaped like a star - the mark of a bloodline witch. Is this why baby Maria has been abandoned? The story spans a 30 year period, following Maria as she finally meets her disreputable parents, is forced to flee England, becomes an indentured servant in Curacao, makes a living for herself in the fledgling city of New York, before ending up in Salem - and we all know what happened there...

If you do think you know what's going to happen, you're in for a surprise. Alice Hoffman ingeniously re-tells Maria's story as it appears in her earlier book but with some very clever twists. As Maria moves from place to place she makes a note in her grimoire of the plants that are grown locally and the uses they can be put to (both recipes and spells) and these notes are cleverly woven into the story. The amount of historical detail about England in the 17th century, life in the Caribbean and early New York is amazing. I wasn't sure I'd learn anything new about Salem but the author concentrates on the people who lived there and what motivated them to begin accusing their neighbours of witchcraft.

The writing is beautiful, with a dreamy fairy tale quality that pulled me right into the world the author has created. I loved the characters despite their flaws - it turns out that even a witch who can read every 'sign' is capable of walking straight into disaster! I especially loved Samuel and Cadin - both of whom had a lot to put up with! The story is also about women supporting women, mother-daughter relationships, women surviving in a man's world and life's harsh lessons.

Magic Lessons is the perfect story to read as the nights begin drawing in, for anyone who wants to lose themselves in a really good book, who loves historical novels or magic realism, or anything 'witchy'. Fans of Practical Magic will not be disappointed. One of my favourite reads this year.



Thank you to Alice Hoffman and Scribner/Simon & Schuster UK for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Fascinating mixture of historical fiction with magic to tell the story of a woman and the story behind her curse, I loved the care and attention that the author gave to the historical details which really made this novel an immersive experience that I adored.

This is a fabulous book about women and witchcraft, longing and love, and it had me under its own captivating spell from the start. Hoffman realises whole periods of time with convincing detail, from a suspicious England in the mid-1660s to the hysteria of Salem at the end of the sixteenth century.

Characters are realised beautifully and with great empathy, and storylines are set up and followed through with a deceptively simple charm to draw you in and immerse you in the terrors and delights of being women with knowledge in a world that is set against you.

Absolutely loved it, a super addition to the stories of the Owens women and totally charming.

I loved The Dovekeepers by the same author, so was very excited when I received this ARC by Netgalley. I really enjoyed the writing, and especially the real historical events and people that provides the backdrop to the story. I personally think Alice Hoffman is at her best when writing about anything Jewish, and although this does not form a huge part of Magic Lessons, I loved finding many titbits about Jewish history and culture. Lastly, I also enjoyed the magic and recipes for all the different spells.

BUT if I knew that love, and I’m talking insta-, angsty, illogical love, would form such a big part of this novel, I think I wouldn’t have requested it. I know this is a personal bug bear and that it's not a deal breaker for most people, but I find it extremely frustrating when an intelligent woman makes implausible life decisions based on someone she does not even know.

Although I did not love this, I did still enjoy a lot of the elements.

Magic Lessons is a prequel to her other books chronicling the Owen's witches in the vein of an origin story.

Having previously read and loved Practical Magic and The Rules of Magic, I was keen to learn more and was not disappointed.

Hoffman's style of writing reads to me like a warm hug. That's not to say there is no peril in these novels, there certainly is, but these stories make me feel as though they are being read to me by someone friendly and familiar, in front of a warm fire on an autumn evening.

Familiarity with the history of witchcraft in both Europe and America is certainly present in Magic Lessons, as we follow Maria Owens, adopted by Hannah to the family name, seek out her fate across two Essex counties separated by oceans. Maria is a bloodline witch, therefore her powers are innate and strong. We learn of her familiar, a beautiful black crow; the heartbreak which sets her on her path of tragedy and destruction towards that fateful curse which prevents her descendants from ever experiencing true love.

Interspersed with the story are the titular "magic lessons": recipes and instructions for spells, relevant to the passage of text they proceed. I rather liked these sections, which remind us that in times past women were tried as witches simply for using herbs and simple tinctures to cure ailments (whereas men were praised as doctors and healers for doing exactly the same). Feminism is also a theme through this story, warning us that women were not always equal to men.

Although readers may already be familiar with the women of Owens lineage, I don't wish to spoil the story by saying too much in this review. It is a calm and tender read, full of love, heartbreak, revenge and loss, but whose final lines provide us with a mantra to help us live life well.

Advertised as the prequel to ‘Practical Magic’ and ‘The Rules of Magic’, I wondered if I was going to be disadvantaged by not having read the other books in the series. Not a bit of it – ‘Magic Lessons’ is a life-affirming spell in its own right.
This is a novel to get lost in. it can be read as a fairy story, a social history, an adventure, a thriller, a romance or a feminist take on the world. In truth, it is all of these things and should appeal to readers of all ages from Young Adult upwards.
Alice Hoffman takes us from rural England in 1664 across the world to Curaçao and then on to Salem, Massachusetts and New York. At the centre of the narrative is Maria, a young woman who practises the Nameless Art. She has to make her own way in the world when her adopted mother is burnt as a witch. The first part of the novel is entitled ‘Transformations’, yet this title applies to all sections of the story. At every turn Hoffman’s characters learn to change and adapt, sometimes not wisely, and to live with the consequences – or change again. This is a novel about courage, perseverance, resilience and determination. Maria, her daughter Faith, her lovers John and Samuel, and those who interact with them all show these attributes in some form. Most importantly, ‘Magic Lessons’ also acknowledges, ultimately, the power of love over hate: ‘Know that love is the only answer.’
Throughout the novel, the reader is given magic lessons by way of copious lists of plants, their attributes and their healing or damaging properties, essential knowledge for both Maria and Faith. ‘Ash is sacred and healing, the leaves make a tonic for horses …nutmeg opened the heart, lily was useful for rashes…’ Such information steeps the reader in seventeenth century beliefs and practices; we become immersed in the times, recognising the dangers of being a woman and celebrating the strength of those so subjugated by a cruel patriarchy.
This is a wonderful novel, vividly expressed and beautifully crafted, which not only recognises the horrors of being a woman during the century’s obsession with witchcraft but also celebrates the bravery of those taking a stand against cruelty, injustice and false truths.
My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

A long time ago I watched and absolutely loved the film Practical Magic. Then I found out it started life as a book so grasped the moment and read that too. Then there was a sequel to that a few years ago - The Rules of Magic - which was also kinda a prequel but... this book takes up back even further. Back to the 1600s and the start of the Owens bloodline and, more importantly, the curse...
I literally savoured every moment I was with this book and felt somewhat bereft when I had to put it down to do boring life stuff. We first meet Maria as she is abandoned as a child and taken in by Hannah Owens along with Cadin, a crow who has chosen to be her familiar. Not a pure witch herself, Hannah does practice the art and sadly gets caught up in the shenanigans, but not before Maria has found her true parents and, circumstances thereafter mean that she must travel to Dutch Curacao to work for five years as a servant before gaining her freedom. It is there she meets John Hathorne, a person who, lets just say will shape the course of the rest of her life...
Oh my days, this is a wonderful book - and can be read whether you are familiar with the series already or not. It is billed as a prequel but, like the other books, can be read in any order as, although very much interconnected, they are complete tales.
As well as the narrative, the book is peppered throughout with spells and recipes, also included are herbs and what they are helpful for. You might think that this would distract from what is going on in the story but it really doesn't. It actually enhances and reinforces what is occurring as it all matches up.
It's quite a slow burn initially but there is also quite a lot going on, quite a few pieces to put in place and, once there, the final third just kicks up a gear. It's also a very emotional book. You'll know that if you are already familiar with the other books in the series, so be prepared to have a weep along the way. But it's definitely not all doom and gloom, there are also some rather funny bits to be found herein too which do keep the book balanced overall. The author also weaves into the mix some of the real history of witchcraft, the Salem trials being the most notable and I found these parts fascinating.
The characters are what really makes the book special. Each one is so well described and easy to connect to / emote with in some way - good and bad and all shades in between. People are inherently flawed and this is even more evident when exposed to magic. Good and Bad. White and Black.
All in all, a cracking addition to a series I already love. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Now that’s how you write a book! Alice Hoffman is definitely one of my ‘go to’ authors and since Practical Magic I have been a hook, line and sinker fan of anything Owen’s women related.

This is Maria’s tale, the first of the Owen’s women and the one who invoked THAT curse. Abandoned as a baby she is taken in and raised by Hannah Owens, a woman with a kind heart and knowledge of the Nameless Art. Hannah teaches and cares for Maria for 10 years but then the unthinkable happens and Maria’s life of turmoil really begins.

Set in Salem in the 1600’s amid the infamous witch trials, Magic Lessons is a blend of historical facts, teachings in folk cures and knitting together the missing link that makes up the history of the Owen’s women.

Always remember:
‘Drink chamomile tea to calm the spirit. Feed a cold and starve a fever. Read as many books as you can. Always choose courage. Never watch another woman burn’.

I loved this book and shall miss these characters, definitely highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a prequel but it works well as a stand-alone. I hadn't read the other books in the series but I enjoyed it anyway. I love Hoffman's writing: raw and visceral, but with a soft side. The book is dark, but there is hope in the story. Beautifully written.

4-5 rounded up.

This story is set in the latter part of the seventeenth century and is the tale of magical lessons for Maria Owens and her daughter Faith which takes us from Essex in England to Curaçao thence to Massachusetts, in particular Salem, to New York and back to Salem.

The pace of this novel is initially slow but it does build up and you become totally immersed in the storytelling. This is a dark, intense story of betrayal and false love, of true love abandoned but re-found and the blackest of revenge. It’s a chilling tale although not horrifying and there are some shocks along the way although I like that it ends very positively. It is cleverly set in the context of the times both in terms of attitudes to women and to female healers which is of course, well documented especially in Salem.. Alice Hoffman’s huge literary strength lies in her magical prose as she seems to cast a spell on you as a reader and bewitches you with her creativity. It’s beautifully written, the storytelling feels alive and the colourful characters jump from the pages, some to like and some to loathe. I really like the natural remedies that ‘pepper’ the book too!

Overall, this is another unique and original novel from a very talented author whose skills I really admire. Highly recommended to fans of this genre.

With thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the much appreciated ARC for an honest review.