It was the early 1950's, an era of political turmoil. Lauren and Ada were bound to each other their first night of college after a near accident, although they were different as night and day. Ada was a quiet studious girl from a Maine apple farm and Lauren came from a Boston Brahmin lineage. Ada's family never allowed her to do anything but farm work, and she had to shun the local library, as it would give her wicked thoughts. Lauren's parents died when she was young and she grew up sad, lonely, and angry. Both were gifted students and were accepted at Radcliffe College, sister school to Harvard University, where they were assigned each other as roommates. But when Ada began unpacking her suitcase, Lauren told her not to bother as they were moving to another dorm that night, and that she was a "legacy" like Lauren. It turned out that the legacy was witchcraft and her new home was Lillith House, the six room dorm for witches where they could hone their craft while excelling at college. But even there, Lauren and Ada specialized in different branches of witchcraft-Ada was drawn to love potions, while Lauren was fascinated by the dark arts of the Crooked Path. Lauren had eleven fingers on one hand and Ada had a scar on her hand where a finger might have been removed.
Ada began her first on-campus job as a server for a boys dining hall, and she was immediately drawn to a handsome but obnoxious student, who inexplicably started a fight with her. While she was furious and quit the job that very night. Jamie Mather was rattled-he had dreamt about her for many nights before he met her and knew she was the love of his life. But he was a disappointment to his prestigious family and knew he didn't deserve her. Being an ancestor of Increase and Cotton Mather had only ever brought him sorrow.
One day, as Ada studied in the Harvard library, she opened a volume that intrigued her. In it, she found a letter that began "Dear Reader." It was the beginning of a series of letters that spoke of the history of women of Cambridge who were shunned because they could heal and were not ashamed of being independent...these were the women deemed witches by the fearful. As Ada reads these letters, the mysteries of her life begin to be revealed, and she slowly realizes that she's not who she thought she was-and neither is Lauren.
The first book in Hoffman's new magic series is an amazing start and there are many avenues to explore in later editions. The witch-hunts of the McCarthy Era and the Rosenberg incidents are aptly compared to the Salem hysteria and resulting damage to innocent people. The push-pull tangles of Lauren and Ada's love lives are intriguing and will be interesting to follow as the series progresses. And the exploration of witches in and of the natural world and the magic they use to control their lives will resonate through the other books that follow this one. You will never think of ABRA KADABRA in the same way.
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