I discovered Alice Hoffman in the 80s and for a while read her voraciously She is best known for Practical Magic, made into a movie with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock. Fun movie, I would recommend it on it’s own, but not as good as the book. Cliche I know, but some movies are ‘as good as the book’. This one was good, not that good.
I don’t remember my first, but I went on a little binge at the time. There was no internet at the time, but I did find out that, like J.D. Salinger, she was shy, maybe a recluse, but unlike him she was much more prolific. I think I stopped because I ran out of books. In researching for this I found a published interview and even a couple of videos. I will get to those soon, I am looking forward to it.
Her work reads easily, like beach novels, almost, except that they aren’t at all. These aren’t just entertaining stories, which they certainly are, they blend the mystical and the practical into novels that are both food for thought and entertainment.
Ivy was an unhappy girl of privilege. Her parents loved her, but she was often alone. They didn’t understand her or see her, according to her. When she got pregnant by a boy who abandoned her, she just needed to get away. She accidentally met a girl in Cambridge, Mass, near her home who was going on a bus to the western part of the state to meet with a group where they understood and loved girls. Why not?
At first, Ivy felt the love of the aggressively male religious cult leader. She also didn’t have a choice but to see it that way. He took her in, kept her safe, and took her daughter, Mia, as his own. After a lifetime of making her own rules, due to parental neglect, she accepted Joel’s strict rules about what women were and what they could do. She also didn’t have a choice. She had no idea that her parents were looking for her and mourning her loss, would take her back. She also had some status being the #1 woman who lived with Joel and as the mother of his daughter.
I read the first page to a patient of mine, a woman in her 70s who never read fiction. She was so taken by it that she asked for my copy to read. In that page, she saw what she had gone through and continues to struggle with. Hoffman’s work is that intuitive and profound.
However, Ivy and Mia developed a special relationship away from the others. Although it was against the rules to have private time with her child, she managed it. Books were also totally forbidden, but Ivy found ways for her daughter to escape to the town library where she began relationships with the librarian and with Natanial Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, a book that saved Mia.  Mia stole it from the library. Sarah, the librarian knew, but said nothing. The possession of that book is what enabled Mia to escape into a real life.
After Ivy’s death Sarah and her partner helped Mia escape to eastern Massachusetts where she was able to have a more normal life. Joel was not going to let her go easily, however. Mia graduated college and was a working woman when he found her and came to get her back. The book she had stolen, time travel, an affair with Hawthorn and Mia convincing Hawthorn to write The Scarlet Letter, were what saved her. The exact way she did this all is clever and I will not ruin it for you. Know that the time travel fits seamlessly into the story. This is the magic of Hoffman’s books. She can do this and make it all real in a way few others could.
You will appreciate how Mia put it all together in a plan that freed her from Joel forever. The ultimate message is that Mia was saved by a book that was written 160 years before she was born, yet she had to go back and help Hawthorn write it. This is the essence of Hoffman’s work. We are responsible and can control our own lives, but we must be very creative about how we do it. We must not set limits on where we go to save ourselves, past present, or future.
Study QuestionsÂ
These questions are generally for book clubs, however, can be used for contemplation or talking to a friend.  Spoiler Alert: ÂThese questions are designed for people who have read the entire book.  If surprises matter, do not read these now.
-  Why do you think that Ivy stayed on with Joel’s cult? Was it because of the baby, her perceived rejection by her parents, or something else?
- Was Joel really blind to Mia’s trips to the library or was there some magical/spiritual intervention?
- Have you read The Scarlet Letter? If so, what effect did it have on your life?
- What would have happened if Mia had stayed with Hawthorn?
- Where do you see her life going?