Magic Spells [Mass Market Paperback]

It's often easier to write a bad review than a good one, easier to explain why something went wrong than to tell a reader why a book made you laugh or cry or touched some resonant chord, why the writing took you into the perfect realm of imagination that all readers long for, but so seldom are able to find. "Magic Spells" struck me almost immediately as a book I wanted to recommend very vigorously. The more I read of it, the more caught up I became in the warmth of Yorke's affection for her characters and the beauty of her prose. But by the end I found myself disturbed by the resolution to the point where I had to rethink my enthusiasm for the story. The happiness of the protagonists depended, in the end, on the unhappiness of another decent, loving character.

As a result I found myself spending some considerable time weighing each aspect of the book more carefully than ever. The plot is simple enough, even complicated by magic which plays a subordinate role here: Woman overcomes the fears and failings of youth to find love with the right man. How often have we encountered that plot? And yet Yorke never allows her story to become old or stale. Rather, Jane's tale seems both painfully new and completely timeless; love is an old, old battle that each of us have to fight anew. Characterization is equally deft, reminiscent of Stephen King at his best, presenting us with a cast of players all of whom we recognize and yet each of whom is as individual as a snowflake. In a few paragraphs, Yorke makes us care about the joys and sorrows of her characters' lives, about why they love who they love, about why one man is drinking himself to death and another woman wears too much makeup. Even the most insignificant player becomes significant, a real person with a real life. This is, perhaps, one of the greatest gifts an author can have.

It's impossible not to respond to Yorke's prose; there's a simple, honest beauty to it that elevates even the saddest, most mundane life to a sort of nobility. Gestures are not only significant, they touch the heart. The moment when Alex's great grandmother reaches out to wipe frozen tears off his face, and they shatter like glass in her hand will stay with me forever. Yorke understands the value of the small thing, the details of life. And in the end, what weighed most heavily in favor of the book really was the very thing that disturbed me: The story is real. Not magic as some external power since in the end it's really just a symbol of the power of love, but the story about Jane and Ned and Graham and the others, about their love and their hate and their weakness and strength. Yes, people do love inappropriately. They do fall in love with one person and marry another, they do leave wives and husbands to take a chance on finding someone or something that completes their soul. Because of that and because the book is so beautifully, simply and powerfully written, I recommend it highly.

"Magic Spells" is one of the most extraordinary books I've read in months, and if you want to be reminded of how grand it is to be alive and how hard it is to be human, if you want to remember the joy and pain of real love, I suggest you rush right out and get this book.