Magic Lessons: The Prequel to Practical Magic

Name: Magic Lessons: The Prequel to Practical Magic
Rating: 4.6 (12900 reviews)
Author: Alice Hoffman

by Alice Hoffman

4.6

About this book

Abandoned in a snowy English field as an infant, Maria Owens is rescued by Hannah, a woman who practices the “Nameless Arts. ” Under Hannah’s tutelage, Maria blossoms into a formidable witch, learning that magic is as much about intuition as it is about power. However, her education is overshadowed by a singular, cautionary rule: always love someone who will love you back.

When the man who claims to adore her abandons her, Maria’s heartbreak ignites a desperate journey across the Atlantic to colonial Massachusetts. In the unforgiving landscape of Salem, she confronts the limits of her craft and the harsh realities of a society that fears what it cannot control. Her quest for answers leads her to invoke a powerful, ancestral curse that will ripple through the centuries, binding her descendants to a legacy of tragedy and enchantment.

As Maria navigates the thin veil between salvation and ruin, she must reckon with the consequences of her own desires. Weaving together themes of resilience, betrayal, and the enduring nature of bloodlines, this narrative explores the origins of the Owens family’s mystical burden, ultimately revealing that in a life defined by magic, love remains the most dangerous spell of all.

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What readers are saying

K K Bayliss

Fascinating and wonderful

"I read this book slower than I do most books, but at times the feelings I had were too large for me to continue on at that moment. I enjoyed every minute of it and the wild twists and turns it took the reader on. The characters were outstanding and I just loved the author's voice in her writing. It was moving and meaningful. There were many great quotes and good lessons to learn. Well worth reading. (It should probably be noted that I didn't read them in the order they were written. I started with this book and will move on to practical magic next.) ["

December 13, 2025 Verified Purchase

Marzie

Excellent prequel to Practical Magic and Rules of Magic

"Alice Hoffman's longtime readers will know that women of the Owens bloodline, practitioners of the Nameless Art, have suffered from troubles of the heart for generations. "Beware of love, Maria Owens had written on the first page of her journal. Know that for our family, love is a curse. The curse, according to Maria's writings, was simply "Ruination for any man who falls in love with them." How did the curse come about? We learned a little of it in The Rules of Magic which gives us the backstory of how Sally and Gillian came to live with their aunts Franny and Jet and how Franny and Jet ended up living in the historic Owens family home. For instance, we know that Maria Owens fell in love with, and was ultimately betrayed by, the witchfinding magistrate of Salem, John Hathorne. But where and how? Magic Lessons gives us Maria Owens' complicated story, beginning with her life as a foundling in Essex, England, where she is taken in and raised by Hannah Owens, a practitioner. When Hannah foresees and suffers her own horrible fate, Maria leaves England and searches for safety, having been sold by her stepfather (for she eventually meets her mother) for indentured service to a captain on a vessel sailing to the Dutch colony of Curaçao. There she must work for five years for a Dutch family to earn her freedom. She does and just as she is going to be free she meets their guest, a tradesman by the name of John Hathorne. After a few fateful days, Maria is left heartbroken, pregnant, and bound toward the Salem colony of Massachusetts, to catch up with the man she is sure she loves. Only does he? And does he love her? With so much of the magic of the Nameless Art centered on love (and its heartaches), Maria has failed to listen to Hannah Owens cardinal rule- Always love someone who will love you back. She will pay a heavy price for this mistake, as will her daughter Faith, and the young Jewish man who saves Maria's and Faith's lives, just as Maria has saved his. But given Maria's uttered curse, perhaps Samuel Dias' price is just the price of happiness. Magic Lessons is both a novel of historical fiction, looking at the era of the Salem Witch Trials, and a beautiful novel of fantasy, giving us the Owens family history. The elements of the Marrano history of the Sephardim in Portugal were a wonderful touch to the story, as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I am, however, now hungry for the story of Hannah Owens, and for that of the enchanting Catherine Durant, another practitioner. You will never satisfy us, Alice! After reading, I promptly listened to Sutton Foster's beautiful narration of the novel to enjoy the story all over again. Lessons learned? "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. Know that love is the only answer." I received a paper and digital review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ["

October 12, 2020 Verified Purchase

Emilio

An Origin story filled with practical magic.

"As a thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Simon and Schuster I give my review of Alice Hoffman's new novel “Magic Lessons”. As in Practical Magic, the reader is shown the origin of the Owens family curse ( a curse of death to fall on any man who dared love an Owens) and introduced to the matriarch of their family line Maria Owens. This novel follows Maria as she navigates childhood and adolescence in England, the tropical islands of Curacao, and the new world prominently Salem Massachusetts before the beginning of the infamous Witch trials of 1693. As her new life in America became layered with family, friends, and love the novel was grounded in the Owens family history adding anecdotes expressed in later novels. I enjoyed the romance in this novel and how it was presented for no matter the circumstance it felt plausible for the character to have experienced. This novel was delightful, moving, and filled with heart. Hoffman adds the depth needed to bring Maria Owens to life and helped make her Practical Magic series much stronger for its contribution. Overall I gave this novel 4 out of 5 stars on good reads. ["

October 28, 2020 Verified Purchase

child of the sixties

So enlightening! Read it!

"I could not put it down! It is the beginning of the curse...I'll not give any tales of the story...just read it. I'm sure you'll love it! Just as I did! ["

May 6, 2026 Verified Purchase