Lessons in Magic and Disaster

Jamie is a PhD candidate teaching and researching for a dissertation on 18th-century literature. She is also navigating the grief of losing her mother, Mae, to cancer as her other mom, Serena, hides from the world. In hopes of getting Serena to come out of her seclusion, Jamie reveals that she is a witch and begins to teach her mother how to cast the spells Jamie has used since she was young. However, the pains of the past, both from the death of Mae and the implosion of her career, set Serena on a path of disastrous magic. Now Jamie must somehow divert Serena’s vengeful spells and try to save her own career and relationship before she loses everyone she loves. The story of Mae and Serena’s relationship is told from the perspective of the past, while excerpts from Jamie’s reading as she conducts research give context to the magic and disasters of everyone’s stories.