HAND MAGIC

Hand Magic is the standalone first book in a potential YA trilogy about three teenage girls subjected to mandatory conscription into the British military because they are Endowed, able to use magic. As fascism rises in continental Europe with Jews the intended target, the trio must fight a faceless enemy wielding eugenic weapons and bastardized magic, facing backstabbing from their superiors, political maneuvering by shadowy figures high in the British government, and a small, yet vicious force of deserters from the Endowed army. In the world of the novel, the Holocaust never happened and Israel never created, meaning Europe is filled with thriving, yet marginalized Jewish communities. The trilogy speculates how a "holocaust" might look if magic users were hunted alongside Jews, and how, in another world, the Shoah might have been averted before the Final Solution began.

THE GILDED ONES IN ALT-CONTEMPORARY BRITAIN,

BUT MAKE IT JEWISH

“It’s our belief that magic came from Jews. We’re all over the world. Wherever there’s people, there’s Jews. We carry our customs everywhere. Sometimes, they rub off on others.”

-Hand Magic

About the Author

Claire Penna is a queer Jewish writer, engineer, dedicated cyclist and terrible aerialist. As a writer, Claire is deeply motivated by queer motifs, interesting women, and Jewish themes. She is a graduate of The Golden Crown Literary Society’s Writing Academy where she was the recipient of the 2021 Sandra Moran Full Scholarship. In 2023, Claire was one of the top five finalists for the Speculative Literature Foundation’s Diverse Writers / Diverse Worlds Grants and was shortlisted for the Tin House YA Summer Workshop in 2024.

Claire is currently based in Boston, where she is completing her Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and tending to ancient, senile cat. You can read more of her words at @claire_penna on Twitter or at clairepenna.com.