A young witch teaches her mother how to do magic–with very unexpected results–in this relatable, resonant novel about family, identity, and the power of love.

Jamie is the average New England academic in-training–she has a strong queer relationship, generational trauma, and an esoteric dissertation proposal. But she has one extraordinary secret: she’s also a powerful witch.

Serena, Jamie’s mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. All she has left are memories.

Jamie’s busy digging into a three-hundred-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn’t know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago, and those secrets are leading Serena down a destructive path.

Now it’s up to this grad student and literature nerd to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic, before her mother ruins both of their lives.

Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders is emotional and healing, a book about magic but also consequences, about loss and grief and how to navigate a relationship with your parents. The writing intertwined the philosophy of magic with the relationship between Serena and Jamie, between the present and the past as Jamie, using her dissertation research digs up truths from the past that also apply to her own life and that of her mother.

One of the elements I really loved was how rich the language and ideas were in this novel but how it also tackles how social media and negativity can impact our lives, how it can change us, not always for the better. I also like that magic isn’t the answer. It can help but sacrifice has costs and it isn’t always the answer. The novel really was relatable in how it invoked love and forgiveness to both oneself and others, how it felt like it was about healing and understanding yourself even when it’s difficult. 

If you like stories with queer characters, magic and love, I highly recommend Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders. It is emotional and healing but it is also magical and beautiful, full of loss but also love. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 books

MacMillan Publishing

Charlie Jane Anders website