Magic Lessons

Alice Hoffman is the author of more than thirty works of fiction, including The Book of Magic, Magic Lessons, The World That We Knew, Practical Magic, The Rules of Magic (a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick), the Oprah's Book Club Selection Here on Earth, The Red Garden, The Dovekeepers, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, The Marriage of Opposites, and Faithful. She lives near Boston.

"Storytelling is in Hoffman's bones, and the skill with which she dispenses information and compresses time, so that a year passes in a sentence, so that a tragedy witnessed becomes the propeller for a hundred-page subplot, is (forgive me) bewitching. My current reality feels chaotic and confusing; to have a narrator take my hand and tell me that linden root and yarrow will cure a racing heart, that witches turn silver dull with their touch, is an undiluted pleasure... Hoffman's book swept me away during a time I most needed it." -New York Times Book Review

"Hoffman writes deftly, and often beautifully, about nature, and she can plot like, well, a witch, casting a spell on her reader to flip pages, reading ahead for plot twists... Magic Lessons is a compelling reminder of the past, which as it turns out, is not distant enough from the present." -Boston Globe

"A gorgeous new novel you won't want to miss" - Bustle

"Vivid and enchanting, with a can't-miss-it foray into the Salem Witch Trials, Magic Lessons is another sublime entry in an arresting series." - Esquire

"In Hoffman's luminous prose, all characters, even the villains, are not only vividly, but also compassionately, rendered... Hoffman adeptly highlights that how one uses a talent, selflessly or selfishly, has a sweeping impact on many lives, meaning that one should always choose courage, and that love is the only answer." -Booklist

"Hoffman offers an eye-opening account of how single women were treated in the 17th century, particularly when their knowledge or intelligence was deemed threatening. [This] page-turning adventure is thoroughly enjoyable. Hoffman's redemptive story of a fiercely independent woman adds an engrossing, worthwhile chapter to the series." -Publisher's Weekly

"Calling all Alice Hoffman stans. Along the way, [Magic Lessons] shows us how smart, independent women were treated in the 17th century. Don't miss