Alice Hoffman (born March 16, 1952) is an American novelist and young-adult and children's writer, best known for her 1995 novel Practical Magic, which was adapted for a 1998 film of the same name.

[4] When Hoffman was twenty-one and studying at Stanford, her first short story, "At the Drive-In", was published in Volume 3 of the literary magazine Fiction.

In September 2019 Hoffman released The World That We Knew based on a true story told to her by a fan at a book signing.

The woman confided to Hoffman that during World War 2, her Jewish parents had her live with non-Jewish people to escape the Nazis.

These were known as "hidden children" and Hoffman thought about this woman and her unusual upbringing for years before deciding to travel to Europe and learn more.