An instant New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick from beloved author Alice Hoffman—the spellbinding prequel to Practical Magic.Find your magic. For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man. Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the sixties, when the whole world is about to … of the sixties, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, who can read other people’s thoughts, and charismatic Vincent, who began looking for trouble on the day he could walk.
From the start Susanna sets down rules for her children: No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Yet, the children cannot escape love even if they try, just as they cannot escape the pains of the human heart. The two beautiful sisters will grow up to be the memorable aunts in Practical Magic, while Vincent, their beloved brother, will leave an unexpected legacy.
Alice Hoffman delivers “fairy-tale promise with real-life struggle” (The New York Times Book Review) in a story how the only remedy for being human is to be true to yourself. Thrilling and exquisite, real and fantastical, The Rules of Magic is “irresistible…the kind of book you race through, then pause at the last forty pages, savoring your final moments with the characters” (USA TODAY, 4/4 stars).
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Loved this book; couldn’t put it down. Was happy to find the prequel to Practical Magic, which I also loved. This book gives you the background of the aunts and their lives, loves and tragedies. Alice Hoffman also gives you great details of the locations in NYC, where I live. If you like Magic, you’ll enjoy this book; it is both whimsical and heart wrenching with a few twists in between.
I felt like there was no real plot. I kept waiting for something more to happen. Interesting but not my favorite.
Not her best but enjoyed it
I came to this book with low expectations — witches — there’s a new idea. But the writing was awesome and the characters were compelling and next thing I know I’m sitting in my seat at 3:00 AM completely sad that the story is over. I have to admit that I live in the Boston area and have been to New York City occasionally, so there was some fun in being familiar with the setting of the story. And I’m old enough to remember a lot of the events (Vietnam, Stonewall, etc.) that form the backdrop. There were some good cries to be had and some good laughs and in the end I felt like the characters were good friends that I was sad to see go.
I always enjoy reading Alice Hoffman!!!
As a fan of Alice Hoffman, I generally love anything she writes. This book dusts off the darker work of the last several years, and brings the reader back to the Owens family with all the same heart, sorrow, and hope of Practical Magic. It is everything its predecessor is, and then some, because now we get to see where Gillian and Sally came from, who Fran and Bridget were, that all gives perspective to who they become. It demands a new read of Practical Magic, and I will.
Alice Hoffman writes muscular prose that makes magic seem normal. Her writing draws you along and her characters glow with life. A joy to read.
Loved the movie loved the book more
A very different, unpredictable story. I kept hoping something good would come for the characters, which does to some extent.
Excellent Writer, enjoy the magical realisn
The way Alice Hoffman eases you into her story and her characters, capturing you from the beginning, is beautiful. Her writing is beautiful. The story is original. I highly recommend reading it.
I liked this book, but didn’t love it. It took me longer than usual to read – but overall, a nice story (just a little slow).
It was fun to read. Just as good as Practical Magic!
Intelligent writing magical storytelling! Alice Hoffman is fierce every time I read her!!!
I love Alice Hoffman, have never read one of her books I didn’t love, and I think Ive read them all
Witches live and are integrated with modern society. Magic, ignored by the “mainstream, modern world” is real, if subtle and not entirely reliable. Franny is the only character in the book I felt was fully realized, i.e., complicated, flawed, not consistent on the outside but reasonably consistent on the inside. The other characters were different and interesting, but to my mind they tended to be “writ large”. They VERY annoying, VERY wise, VERY gentle. They loved big, hated big, succeeded big, failed big. I hope you get the idea. Maybe that’s the way it is supposed to be with witches. It is a small scale family story that focuses on the lives and loves of two sisters and their brother and the family business. In this case the family business is not a farm or a law firm – it is witchery. I gave this book 5 stars on the strength of its ending. The other parts of the book were entertaining in their own ways, but I found the ending to be tremendously moving both sad and uplifting.
Recommended.
easy read, enjoyed the characters, not necessarily happy-ever-after.
Alice Hoffman is a beautiful writer even when she’s not at her best – and for me, this just wasn’t her best. There were parts I loved. The first half before the three Owens children grow up and fall into tragedy is wonderful – eccentric and lovely and hopeful, with some really incredible and moving scenes between the girls and their cousin, and between them and their aunt (the soap making scene was a favorite). But as the book goes on, the storyline just gets tougher and tougher to swallow. It was not a very happy book, and honestly, it took me probably twice as long to finish as it should have because I just couldn’t find myself excited to pick it up.
I’m also bothered by some of the inconsistencies between this book and it’s predecessor. Vincent, the aunts’ younger brother, is a huge part of their lives in this book, but he’s never mentioned in Practical Magic. Also, he seems immune to the Owens curse, which frustrated me – why is it only the women are cursed to have the men they love die? I would have liked to see a prequel that kept a closer eye on the aunts, and that merged more seamlessly with the future we know so well from book one. I also wanted more of the actual rules of magic – we didn’t get nearly enough of the science I was hoping for with Franny as one of the main characters!
What a perfect book to read in October. I thought this book was something else entirely, but was pleased to learn it was the aunts from Practical Magic after further investigating. Their story was a punch to the heart but I loved every second of learning about what made them who they were. I didn’t know who Sally and Gillian’s mother was and this tied everything together so nicely. I love stories about witchcraft, but this was so much more. I need to watch Practical Magic again so I can feel contented.
Not my cup of tea. I was disappointed as a loved several other books she had written. I’m not into fantasy. I found nothing of substance and wasn’t enjoying the adventure. I couldn’t get through it and quit reading.