In what Kirkus calls “A spellbinding portrait of what it means to be human in an inhuman world,” Alice Hoffman turns a magical lens on a dark period in human history. This bestselling author of over thirty novels, including Practical Magic and The Marriage of Opposites, visits to discuss one of her most startlingly beautiful, captivating creations to date— The World That We Knew.

Hoffman opens on the eve of 1941, when a Rabbi’s daughter crafts a golem from mud and water to protect a young Jewish girl from harm.

The golem binds two lives: a child forced away from her mother’s love to stay alive, and a Rabbi’s-daughter-turned-resistance-fighter in WWII. Magic unveils this well-traversed historical period in an absolutely unique and revelatory way. Through very different storylines, these young women are flung across continents, into a convent hideout, fall in love, traverse France, and retain courage and humanity in an impossible time.

Through the eyes of young girls both real and spell-crafted, Hoffman heralds the strength of a woman's love, for both family and friends, in the ongoing struggle for a just world.

Hoffman joins us on October 2nd to discuss The World That We Knew with Clara Sherley-Appel of KSQD's Story Behind the Story, a monthly author interview radio program for 90.7 FM serving the Central Coast. Clara also produces and co-hosts Physical Kids Weekly, a Magicians podcast which follows the Syfy TV series based on Lev Grossman's novels.

“Oh, what a book this is! Hoffman’s exploration of the world of good and evil, and the constant contest between them, is unflinching; and the humanity she brings to us—it is a glorious experience […] By the end you may be weeping.” —Elizabeth Strout

Photo of Alice Hoffman by Deborah Feingold.