Where does the story of the Owens family begin? With a baby abandoned in a snowy field in the 1600s. Under the care of Hannah Owens, little Maria learns about the Unnamed Arts. Hannah recognizes that Maria has a gift and she teaches the girl all she knows. When Maria is abandoned by the man she loves, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. Here she invokes the curse that will haunt her family. And it's is here that she learns the rules of magic and the lesson that she will carry with her for the rest of her life. Love is the only thing that matters.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Rules of Magic offers “an affecting love story, laced with humor”( Booklist ) that tells the tale of a man and a woman so consumed with helping others that they are in danger of failing in their duty to themselves. Natalie, a therapist, is in love with Carter—but he is deeply dedicated to his environmental work, and the fate of their relationship takes a backseat to the fate of the planet. Then a new client walks into Natalie's office. He is an intriguing man, with an incredible tale to tell—and under his influence, she faces questions about the direction of her own passion, the true meaning of commitment...and the possibility of finding the love she seeks right in her own backyard.

Nearly two thousand years ago, nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived. Based on this tragic and iconic event, Hoffman's novel is a spellbinding tale of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful, and sensuous women, each of whom has come to Masada by a different path. Yael's mother died in childbirth, and her father, an expert assassin, never forgave her for that death. Revka, a village baker's wife, watched the murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers; she brings to Masada her young grandsons, rendered mute by what they have witnessed. Aziza is a warrior's daughter, raised as a boy, a fearless rider and expert marksman who finds passion with a fellow soldier. Shirah, born in Alexandria, is wise in the ways of ancient magic and medicine, a woman with uncanny insight and power.The lives of these four complex and fiercely independent women intersect in the desperate days of the siege. All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets-about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom they love --