Alice Hoffman’s Magic Lessons tells the powerful story of Maria Owens, one of the early Owens witches. Very rarely do readers get to experience a character’s life from childhood into adulthood and well beyond. Magic Lessons does this in a colorful and exciting way, allowing us to follow Maria Owens through the heights of youth, the troubles of motherhood, and the pains of loss experienced throughout life. This post summarizes the key events that marked Maria Owens’ life and made her into the witch that we all know. This post contains spoilers, so if you are interested in reading the book, Magic Lessons, it would be best to turn back now.

Discovery, Parentage, and Early Life

Maria Owens was found by Hannah Owens in January 1664 in Essex County, England. Hanna found her abandoned in the middle of a snowy field with a crow perched on the basket where she rested. Hannah brought the child home, along with the watchful crow, and adopted them both into her life. Leading up to Hannah’s discovery and adoption of Maria, Hannah had been accused of witchcraft and narrowly avoided being hanged. But, as the madness of the recent witch hunt began to die down, she was spared and able to live in relative safety again. Hannah was, in fact, a practitioner of the Nameless Art, and even after being marked as a witch by the community, she was still sought after by local women for cures, spells, and other devices, often to capture love.

Hannah raised Maria alone, nurturing magical gifts she observed in the child, and eventually prepared her to go out into the world on her own. Before Maria would come to leave England, she would meet her birth mother, a somewhat self-centered but powerful witch named Rebecca, who would teach her more twisted and dark magic. During this period, Maria Owens slowly developed a melancholic inclination towards life due to a range of harrowing events, including the death of her adopted mother, Hannah, and conflicts with her birth mother, Rebecca. Around the age of 10, Maria witnessed the death of Hanna in a merciless witch hunt, leading Maria to flee and board a ship for an island called Curaçao, where she would work as a servant until she turned 15.

Marias Love Interests

Maria found a sense of freedom in her 5 years as a servant. She spent her days working for the Jansen family on Curaçao, and her spare time was spent with a local group of Brua’s where she continued her studies in the Nameless Art. One day, a man named John Hawthorne traveled to the island to visit the Jansen family. Maria was in her early teens, and upon meeting Maria, John was overtaken by his emotions and appetites. Maria, equally as overcome, fell for him and ultimately lost her virginity to the man. Mr. Jansen, noticing the unsavory relationship, sent John Hawthorne back to Massachusetts, leaving Maria to her work and soon to a newborn baby named Faith. Maria was determined to be reunited with John, and after her servitude ended, she planned to sail to Massachusetts to reunite with him and introduce him to his child.

On her voyage from Curaçao to America, Maria would meet a man named Samuel Diaz, who was the son of the ship’s captain and was dangerously sick throughout the majority of their voyage. Maria cared for Samuel in exchange for her safe passage to Massachusetts, and both she and Faith became understandably fond of the kind and well-tempered Samuel, who was affectionately called goat by baby Faith. While Maria and Samuel develop a deep and powerful relationship during their short voyage, Maria’s feelings for John Hawthorne still held a powerful influence on her. She landed in Massachusetts, determined to be with him. Ultimately, after a harsh and painful rejection by John Hawthorne upon her arrival in Essex County, Massachusetts, Maria chose to focus on motherhood and serving the local women’s medicinal and magical needs, just as her mother Hannah had done.

Motherhood, The Witch Trial, & The Curse

Maria and Faith lived together peacefully during Faith’s early childhood, but over time, Maria’s occupation would come into question. She lived in the woods some ways outside of Essex County, and fell under suspicion after an anonymous letter accused her of witchcraft and other evil deeds. John Hawthorne and other local judges in Essex began Maria’s trial as a witch, and her daughter Faith was put reluctantly into the care of a woman named Martha Chase, who hid Faith away. In the moments leading up to Maria’s hanging, desperate and gutted by John Hawthorne’s betrayal, she would place a curse on herself and her descendants in her bloodline:

To any man who ever loves an Owens, let this curse befall you, let your fate lead to disaster, let you be broken in your body and soul, and may it be that you never recover.

Alice Hoffman, Magic Lessons, p. 209

Later Life and the Search for Faith

Maria was miraculously saved from her death by Samuel Diaz, but her daughter Faith was long gone, kidnapped by Martha Chase. Heartbroken and lost, Maria left for Manhattan with Samuel and continued to search for Faith, who was around 5 when Martha kidnapped her. During this time, Faith would come to rely on left-handed magic, a dark and corrupting practice, to free herself from Martha’s grasp. Once she did finally escape and reunite with Maria, it had been almost 6 years since they had seen one another. Maria would attempt to help Faith heal from the anger and deeply suspicious nature she developed after her painful and abusive time with Martha Chase, but ultimately, Faith would have to face those tribulations on her own.

Conclusion

Faith and Maria each went on to face their problems head on. Faith would exercise her desires for revenge and suffer bitter consequences, while Maria would face her fear of love, finally embracing her relationship with Samuel Diaz. They eventually returned to Massachusetts, where Maria built the home where generations of Owens witches would fall in love, experience heartbreak, and live into old age for generations to come. I’ll continue talking all things Practical Magic over the summer, so stay tuned! Read more about the Practical Magic series Here.