You probably know her magic.
Alice Hoffman’s novels—Practical Magic, Magic Lessons, The Probable Future–blend history and magic so as to raise up women who got ignored by their worlds, then and now.
Intrigued by her books, I invited Alice for an interview about The Probable Future. Alice and I sat in my simple home-studio, exploring the wisdom of her books.
As a kid, I felt drawn by witches. I imagined that I might have experienced an earlier life as a witch, hanged following the Salem Massachusetts witch trials in the late 1690’s. The unfairness of that era stayed with me. Alice put it this way, “What it’s really about is how women are marginalized in history. Witchcraft is part of how women are denied access to history and to their own power.”
I felt tangled up in that theme of not fitting in or “something isn’t right” in my own life. And The Probable Future spoke to that theme. Alice created a family in which each woman received a psychic gift when she hit thirteen.
“So often your gift is also your curse. What brings you the most joy also brings you the most sorrow.”
And then she said something that still truly resonates with me,
“What a book can do for somebody is that you can feel less alone.”
I grew up, clutching my books to my chest. I knew they understood me, that they would never let me down. This is a gift.
“Women are denied access to history and to their own power.”
“So often your gift is also your curse. What brings you the most joy also brings you the most sorrow.”
“Every time I write a book, I have to relearn how to write a book, Alice said. ”When I write, I outline, and suddenly the characters became real, and they began doing what they want.
Sometimes the story comes pouring out. I’m much smarter as a writer than I am as a person.”
“What it’s really about is how women are marginalized in history. Witchcraft is part of how women are denied access to history and to their own power.”
Magic: trying to understand women’s power and women in history.
“Books open the world. You see that someone out there feels the same way. You are not alone.”