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title: Here on Earth


author: Alice Hoffman


genre: fiction


published: 1997

source: purchased copy


pages: 309


first line: Tonight, the hay in the fields is already brittle with frost, especially to the west of Fox Hill, where the pastures shine like stars.

rated: 3 1/2 out of 4










Here on Earth is one of those books that I enjoyed reading but disliked most of the characters within the story. It is also reminiscent of Bronte's Wuthering Heights.





March Murray returns to her hometown in New England with her fifteen year old daughter Gwen. Her childhood housekeeper and nanny Judith, has passed away and March comes back to her hometown for the funeral and to get Judith's affairs in order.
March's scientist husband Richard, who is from the same hometown, stays behind in California unable to come on the trip due to his work.



When she arrives at her childhood home, old memories resurface and March begins to think about her first love, Hollis. She wonders if she will see him again now that she is back in town.





As a child, Hollis was rescued by March's father and brought to live with her family. Hollis was destitute and March's family became his own. However, Hollis was always withdrawn and sullen, only getting along with March and her father and becoming enemies with March's bother, Alan.
As time passes, Hollis and March fall in love.





Jealously and resentment mostly on Hollis' part, broke the two up when March was just eighteen and Hollis ended up leaving town with no word on his whereabouts. He left March depressed and heartbroken, often staring out her bedroom window in hopes of seeing Hollis return. The two never forgot each other. Three years later, Hollis returns to town a wealthy man, but March has already married Richard and moved to California. Hollis winds up marrying Richard's sister.


Does it remind you of Wuthering Heights yet?





Now that March is back in town she is desperate to see Hollis. And when she does, old flames reignite and the two are once again inseperable.









Like I said I enjoyed reading Here on Earth. It's got an interesting storyline, and Hoffman's writing is lyrical as usual. The sleepy town in New England almost has a haunting air about it, especially when the author describes the woods and the towns history.

A person could get lost up here. After enough wrong turns he might find himself in the Marshes, and once he was there, a man could wander forever among the minnows and the reeds, his soul struggling to find its way long after his bones had been discovered and buried on the crest of the hill, where the wild blueberries grow.

On the other hand, I couldn't help but be judgemental with the characters choices and thought processes. Hollis, modeled after Heathcliff, was too selfish and sulky for my taste, plus a tad disturbed. He was also very 'full of himself', always expecting March to come looking for him.


There's a part in the story where a very pregnant March calls Hollis on the phone and he insists she leave California and her husband to come back to him. When she tells him she can't he replies, "If you loved me, you'd do it". People who utter those words need to be smacked. So as soon Hollis said that, he got under my skin.




Another thing is the infidelity within the storyline. The book mostly centers around March's being unfaithful to her husband. I kept wondering if she had completely lost her mind. At one point she even admits that all she cares about is Hollis and nothing else, not even her family. I wonder why Hoffman set out to create these unlikeable main characters? She obviously modeled these people after Catherine and Heathcliff, but when I read Wuthering Heights I didn't dislike them. March and Hollis, on the other hand...


I do think this book would make a great book club selection, there's plenty to discuss within the storyline.





So as I said, I couldn't help but be judgemental with these characters, which in turn made it impossible for me to connect with them while reading.


But then again, love can be screwed up, and people make bad choices, but life goes on. Nothing is black and white. This is what this story was about for me. These two selfish people loved each other for most of their lives, no matter how screwed up that was, they were forever connected. As self-centered as they were, I kept thinking they deserved each other.



I felt bad for March's daughter Gwen who is witness to her mother's infidelity. She watches helplessly as her family is being torn apart by March's poor choices. She plays a central part in the story and I was hoping things would turn out alright for her in the end.


I also felt bad for March's husband Richard, who she simply brushes off like yesterday's news.

One other thing I should mention is that Hoffman leaves the ending open. The reader can come up with their own conclusions.




In the midst of all these screwed up relationships and unlikeable characters, Hoffman's writing had me glued to the page. Here are a few of my favorite tidbits.

March doesn't cry now; she's far too busy for anything like that. Still, there are mornings when she wakes with tears in her eyes. That's when she knows she's been dreaming about him. And although she never remembers her dreams, there's always the scent of grass on her pillow, as if the past were something that could come back to you, if you only wished hard enough, if you were brave enough to call out his name.

p. 30

It is sometimes possible to look at a person and see inside, although this happens so rarely it's always a shock, like a form of electricity traveling from one soul to another. It can only be glimpsed for an instant, but in that instant you can see the core of a person...

p.125

Unfinished business always comes back to haunt you, and a man who swears he'll love you forever isn't finished with you until he's done.

p. 132

There is no measuring love, other than all or nothing or that space in between. This is all, she sees that in him. This is more than everything. Could she live without this, what he's offering to her? Could she turn away and settle for anything less?

p. 164

Here on Earth was an Oprah's Book Club selection in 1998. I'd also like to mention there is explicit language and a few sex scenes in the book, not that it was overly done, but I know some readers would like to know if it's in there. It is.



And on a final note, I'm re-reading Wuthering Heights as we speak. It was a favorite of mine when I first read it years ago, I wonder how I'll feel about it the second time around.

title: Incantation

author: Alice Hoffman

genre: YA fiction

published: 2006

pages: 166

first line: If every life is a river, then it's little wonder that we do not even notice the changes that occur until we are far out in the darkest sea.



rated: 4 out of 5









I'm a fan of Alice Hoffman's work, especially since reading Practical Magic and The Ice Queen.
I picked up Incantation several months ago, and being busy with other reads, I put it down and never got back to it. I didn't want to give up on it though, so I picked it up again and this time around I found myself being immersed in this story.



Incantation is a story about a 16 year old girl named Estrella deMadrigal, and the long hidden secret she finds out about her family. The family lives in a little village in Spain around the
1500's.




Estrella's nickname is Raven, for her long black hair and her best friend Catalina is nicknamed Crow. The two girls are inseparable, until they get a bit older and Catalina's jealousy over Estrella's beauty and possessions emerges.


Estrella falls in love with Catalina's cousin Andres. The love is kept secret because Catalina herself plans on marrying him one day.

You can't tame something that doesn't want to be tamed, any more than you can make someone love you. All you can do is wait and see what will happen.

Estrella knows that she and her family have special names, secret ones only used in their home, hers being Esther. She also knows that in public her family appears to be Christian, yet they have customs that are a bit different than most.



When she sees decrees that are placed in the town square, stating what to look for in order to find out who is a false Christian, Estrella starts to wonder if her family is hiding something from her. When she learns that her family is really Jewish, her whole world is rocked to its core.



The Spanish Inquisition is taking place and false Christians are charged with heresy, tried as guilty, then sentenced to death.

The day when the arrests began reminded me of the day of the burning books, when the air was filled with sparks, when something bad crept out onto the Plaza from the deep, evil place, something that would become so strong no one could catch it or beat it down or lock it away.

Soon Estrella's family is in danger and before she knows it her worst fears are coming true. Her grandfather, a doctor, is accused of practicing sorcery. Her mother, who uses herbs to heal, is accused of being a witch. Estrella must figure out what to do to help save her family and herself.




Incantation is a moving story. You get a glimpse of the horror during the Spanish Inquisition through a 16 year olds eyes. It's a story about love, betrayal and family. I think Alice Hoffman did a wonderful job writing about this tragic time in history. As usual her writing is beautiful and poignant. When I finished reading this book, I just sat back and thought about it. It's one of those books I won't soon forget.

I thought about how the soldiers had burned the books first. How the pages were like doves. Everything we knew condemned us, and our questioning condemned us most of all. Knowledge was the way of our people, and knowledge was dangerous. It was the thing that freed you and the thing that put you in peril. It was the key to the ten gates. I saw them clearly now, each and every one, the gates that were there for me. Ashes, Bones, Grass, Heart, Stone, Love, Sorrow, Blood, Earth, Sky.

As a novelist, I am constantly reinventing entire worlds. Every book is a new beginning, but as with Estrella, at the core of every novel are the themes closest to me: love and loss.
-
Alice Hoffman

title: Blackbird House


author: Alice Hoffman

genre: fiction

pages: 225

published: 2004

first line: It was said that boys should go on thier first sea voyage at the age of ten, but surely this notion was never put forth by anyone's mother.

rated: 3 out of 5










I picked up a copy of Blackbird House at my local library because I'm a big fan of Alice Hoffman's work. Her book The Ice Queen is one of my favorites. I really had no idea what this book was about. After reading it I have some mixed thoughts on it. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. It didn't grab me, I found I had to push myself to read it and finish it.


The book is a collection of short stories based on people who lived in a farmhouse in Cape Cod called Blackbird House. The stories vary from different times and events. From a mother whose sons and husband are lost at sea, to a woman who loses the man she loves to her more beautiful sister, to a pair of brothers whose only wish is to leave the small town and move on to better things. The stories are all intertwined in some way. The writing was wonderful as usual Alice Hoffman style. Here's a few of my favorite passages:

He thought about the damselflies giding over the pond, and the sound of the frogs splashing in the water, and the yellow light coming in through the windows of the house his father built. He thought about how love could move you in ways you wouldn't have imagined, one foot in front of the other, even when you thought you had nothing left inside.

Witches take thier names from places, for places are what give them thier strength. The place need not be beautiful, or habitable, or even green. Sand and salt, so much the better. Scrub pine, plumberry, and brambles, better still. From every bitter thing, after all, something hardy will surely grow. From every difficulty, the seed that's sewn is that much stronger. Ruin is the milk all witches must drink; it's the lesson they learn and the diet they're fed upon.

I kept my head down so he couldn't see my face. So I'd have a few more minutes of him thinking I was beautiful. Through the straw of my hat brim I could see that his eyes were some strange pale blue. I was done for, I knew that. I was trapped then and there.

Lion had to kiss her then and there, even though when he kissed her he felt as though he were swallowing sadness. He knew he'd never be free from whatever this was between them, not that he wanted to be, not that he ever would.

I'm glad i've read other books by Alice Hoffman, because I think if this was my first time reading her work, I may not have picked up any more of her books. For some reason this book just bored me a little at times and I found myself not being in the mood for these short stories. As I said, the writing was classic Alice Hoffman, haunting and beautiful.


Has this happened to you before? You read a book by one of your favorite authors and don't enjoy it too much?

title: Practical Magic

author: Alice Hoffman


pages: 286




first line: For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in town.



rated: 5 out of 5 stars







Practical Magic is a story of two sisters, Gillian and Sally Owens, who are being raised by thier two aunts. They live in a small town in Massachusettes, and the other townspeople know that the Owens women are witches. Sally & Gillian are opposites. Sally is dark haired and serious, Gillian fair-haired and wild. When they are little girls, all of the other children are afraid of them, they get teased at school. But as they grow up, Gillian becomes a heartbreaker and a flirt. By age 18, Gillian leaves the aunts house and she elopes with her first husband, only to leave him 2 weeks later for a mechanic. She doesnt want to come back home, instead she moves from place to place. She writes Sally and calls her regularly.

'Night and Day, the aunts called them, and although neither girl laughed at this litte joke or found it amusing in the least, they recognized the truth in it, and were able to understand, earlier than most sisters, that the moon is always jealous of the heat of the day, just as the sun always longs for something dark and deep.'

Sally has always just wanted a normal life. She doesn't want to be known as a witch. She ends up meeting a guy in town and marrying him. She and Michael have two daughters, and live happily until one day the 'deathbeetle' comes around and is heard clicking around Michael. Everyone knows that the 'deathbeetle' has come for Michael, but Sally refuses to believe it. Until one day, Michael is killed by a drunk driver. Sally goes through a depression for an entire year.



During that year, the aunts take care of Sally's daughters. When Sally comes out of her depression, she takes her kids and moves away to the city. Her eldest is angry with her and swears she will never forgive her. But soon enough Sally builds herself a new life, begins working as the school secretary and rasies her daughters by herself. They visit the aunts every year.


Sally and Gillian write to each other, but Gillian ever comes to visit. Until one night, Gillian shows up on Sally's front porch in need of help.

I won't give out any more details and spoil the story but it does get creepy and the book was hard to put down. I found it a wonderful read. There's magic involed in the plot with them being witches, but it's also a story about family, sisters and love.






I have quickly become a fan of Alice Hoffman's. After reading The Ice Queen and now Practical Magic, I will definitely read more of her novels.






'Practical Magic' the movie is one of my favorite films as well. The movie and the book are different in many ways. In the movie, the plot is centered mostly around the two Owens siters, and Sally's daughters are little girls. In the book, Sally's daughters are teenagers by the time a 36 year old Gillian comes to visit, and her daughters have a bigger part in the story. And for those who have seen the film, remember the part where Gillian is possessed towards the end? That doesn't happen at all in the book. Even though they changed the story alot for the movie, I enjoyed it anyway.




click here for details one the film


















visit the author's website: http://www.alicehoffman.com/





this has been part of the following reading challenges:

TBR

100 +

triple 8






If you have read and reviewed this book, comment on this post and I'll link your review here as well.

author: Alice Hoffman

title: The Ice Queen

pages: 211

first line: 'Be careful what you wish for.'

rated: 5 out of 5












'Wishes are brutal, unforgiving things. They burn your tongue the moment they're spoken and you can never take them back. They bruise and bake and come back to haunt you.'







This book grabbed me from page one. I took it randomly off the shelf at the library, it's the first Alice Hoffman book i've read.



It starts off with an 8 year old girl who lives with her mother and older brother, it is January and thier house is cold, the heat is off, they are poor. The mom is going out with her two friends to celebrate her 30th birthday and the daughter begs her not to go. The mom goes anyway, and the little girl makes a wish to 'never see her mother again'. The mom dies that night in a car accident. The girl always blames herself for the accident. She and her brother go to live with their grandmother in New Jersey.



As an adult, the brother, Ned, eventually moves out and ends up becoming a teacher and marrying one as well. The girl winds up becoming a librarian and lives with her grandmother until her grandma's death. Being left alone now, the girl moves to Florida, where Ned lives. She is a loner, works at the library and has no outside life other than that.
One day while talking to Ned, she wishes out lout to be struck my lightning....soon after, she is.




I found this aspect of the story to be odd and fascinating. She is struck by lightning while at home. It almost kills her, but she survives, and is really sick, the equivalent of having radiation poisoning. She loses her hair, cannot eat, hears a 'clicking' sound in her head and becomes color blind to the color red.




The woman in this story always believes that if she makes a wish, it will come true. So much tragedy has happened in her life this way, by making wishes.

She considers herself an 'ice queen', so no one can touch her, she has a heart made of ice.





'I knew the power of a single wish, after all. Invisible and inevitable in its effect, like a butterfly that beats its wings in one corner of the globe and with that single action changes the weather halfway across the world. Chaos theory, my brother had informed me, was based on the mathematical theorem that suggests that the tiniest change affects everything, no matter how distant, including the weather. My brother could call it whatever he wanted to; it was just fate to me.'








She winds up going to a support group for lightning strike victims and hears about a young man who was struck, then died for over 40 minutes, only to come back to life.
She decides to go meet him, he is a recluse.
His nickname is 'Lazarus'. She also makes a friend at the group, a youn guy named Renny.



I won't give anymore details on the story, exept that it is fascinating.

I liked the main character, whose name is never given.

I liked her brother Ned alot, and her relationship with him, especially in the end of the story. Her close friend Renny is another character that is well written and likeable.


I loved Lazarus' character, being struck by lightning leaves him literally 'hot to the touch', it burns to touch him, and he is telekenetic.




Alice Hoffman writes beautifully, and at so many times during this book, I would go back and re-read a certain passage...just because it was so well written. I recommend this book and will be buying my own copy to add to my collection.





visit the author's website: http://www.alicehoffman.com/




also reviewed by: mariel