Award-winning local author Brinda Charry has just launched a compelling new novel, “Hocus Pocus,” which tells the story of a young magician who travels the world seeking fame and fortune while hiding an intriguing secret. This new book, set in Boston, New Hampshire, and across New England, is based on the renowned, real-life Indian stage magicians performing in the United States in the early 1800s.
It has already received a glowing review from The Boston Globe, the rare distinction of starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers’ Weekly, and Library Journal. The New York Times has called it one of August’s best books and it was Library Journal’s Fiction Pick of the month for August.
Samuel Thomas, a young magician, is convinced that he is destined for greatness in a
far-off land. Seeking honor and acclaim, he journeys across the globe — from India to the
streets of Boston in 1816, the infamous Year Without a Summer. In this season of
unrelenting cold, Samuel arrives in Boston with ambition — and a secret.
Walter Mepham, from the upper echelons of Boston society, has his own problems. As
the proprietor of the New Boston Museum, an institution teetering on the brink of
bankruptcy, Walter is desperate to find ways to keep it open. Samuel, the first live
addition to the collection, becomes its potential savior.
While the perfect solution to each other’s problems, the relationship between the two
men quickly becomes complicated as Walter grows more fascinated, even obsessed,
with the young foreigner. As Samuel becomes dependent on Walter, he must decide
how much he’s willing to give up to achieve success. Richly detailed and vividly
conjured, Hocus Pocus is a story about art, ambition, and desire, capturing the crackling
energy and wonder of a bygone era through the eyes of a young performer.
“In Boston, in the year without summer, when it snowed in June, anything was possible.
My characters’ experiences of magic, obsession, ambition, and desire drove them as
they faced hard choices about how far they’d go for success,” explained Brinda Charry,
the book’s author. “It’s been such a joy for me to spotlight the legendary magicians from
my Indian homeland, and to set the novel in my current New England home. I’m thrilled
that the response to this story has been so positive, as people are captivated by the
magnetic, yet complicated, relationship between Samuel and Walter, and also the
backdrop of the vibrant city of Boston in what was a very young United States.”
Brinda Charry, an award-winning writer, came to the United States from India as a
graduate student in 1999, and currently lives in Keene, NH. “The East Indian,” her first
work of fiction published in the United States, won the Society of American Historians
Prize for Historical Fiction, the NH Humanities Prize, and the NHWP Outstanding Work
of Fiction Prize. It was shortlisted and longlisted for numerous other literary awards,
both in the USA and internationally. Brinda, a professor at Keene State University, is an
English literature specialist and has published numerous books and articles in that
field.
“Hocus Pocus” is available now. For more information or to purchase the book, please
visit the Simon and Schuster website.