The Practical Magic book series…
explores the enchanting and impressive lives of Owens witches. Readers are most familiar with the first book, Practical Magic, which follows the lives of Sally and Gillian Owens. The powerhouse writer Alice Hoffman has since released three more books and has presumably completed the series as we know it.
What is most exciting about her recent releases, which compliment the 1995 novel Practical Magic, is the formidable worldbuilding and and her satisfying way of tying up loose ends. Hoffman allows readers to observe almost the entire lives of her characters in this series, the affects one person can have on generations of their lineage provides us with a truly unique reading experience.
In this collection of posts, we will dive into each book in the series. We’ll begin with a brief overview of the book and continue with supplementary posts that cover characters, plots, and magical discourse more in depth. For the first post and discussion, we will begin in chronological order with Magic Lessons, instead of release order. If you are interested in reading the series but still deciding what order to read the books in, check out this post here. This novel provides readers with deeper understanding of the Owens family curse, their fates, and Maria Owens herself.
Summary
Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman
Magic Lessons, the chronologically first book in the Practical Magic series, follows the life of Maria Owens who lived around the 1660’s and was one of the earliest Owens witches. In this story, we observe Maria through different stages in her life. From girlhood to motherhood, we witness her power, downfalls, and evolutions as a witch. Indeed, she was powerful and inclined toward the craft at a young age, a skill which was recognized and nurtured by her adopted mother, Hannah Owens. This colorful, emotional, and passionate story about love and power holds the key to understanding the generations of Owen’s witches to come and the fates that befall them.
Alice Hoffman’s Magic Lessons is written in six sections, each encompassing a different segment of Marias life and her education in the craft. Certain times, she is surrounded by other witches and learning within a group, while others she is on her own, developing her spells and growing her grimoire in solitude. One of the most powerful aspects of this story are the emotional and mental seasons Alice Hoffman captures so beautifully. Maria’s life is bound together by great loves and losses, real world knowledge and magical knowledge, and an easy to follow thread from her childhood into her adulthood. These dualities and experiences make this text all-encompassing and allows us to witness almost the entire lifetime of one witch in a beautiful and captivating fashion.
To Be Continued…
If you enjoy witchcraft or beautiful storytelling, this may be the book for you! Our next post “Who Was Maria Owens” will detail important milestones in Maria’s life, cover essential plot points, and explore her story more in depth. There will also be a supplementary post that will detail the different spells and magical practices that take place in this novel! Our next review will be the second book in the series The Rules of Magic which tells the story of Maria’s descendants, Jet, Franny, and Vincent who explore their powers and their family curse in the 1970’s.
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