Synopsis
'TIS MAGIC, MAGIC THAT HATH RAVISHED ME
Samuel Thomas, an orphan from Madras, is convinced that he is destined for greatness. Seeking honour and acclaim as a young magician, he journeys from India to London to the fog-shrouded streets of Boston in 1816—the infamous Year Without a Summer. In this season of unrelenting cold, Samuel arrives at the land of opportunity with a secret and a past he cannot yet confront.
Walter Mepham, obsessive collector of oddities, businessman, and proprietor of the New Boston Museum, is nursing problems of his own. Drowning in debt and on the brink of bankruptcy, Walter is desperate to find ways to keep his museum open—and is convinced this young foreign conjurer would be the perfect addition to his collection.
While each man seems like the ideal solution to the other’s problems, the relationship between the two quickly becomes complicated as Walter grows more and more fascinated, even obsessed, with Samuel. As Samuel becomes subsumed within the museum and Walter’s life, forced to perform as the Fakir of Benares, he must reckon with just 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. Based on the real-life Indian stage magicians performing in the United States in the 1800s, the novel captures the crackling energy and wonder of a bygone era through the eyes of a young performer.
