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The Rules of Magic

By Alice Hoffman
Series: The Practical Magic Series
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman is a prequel to the beloved Practical Magic, exploring the lives of the Owens siblings—Franny, Jet, and Vincent. Set in New York City, the siblings grow up grappling with love, loss, and the dark family curse that hovers over their lives, all while discovering their own magical abilities. This enchanting tale weaves themes of self-acceptance, family ties, and the enduring power of love in the face of adversity.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This enchanting tale weaves a story of magical realism and family bonds set in the 1960s, following the lives of siblings grappling with the gifts and curses of witchcraft. You might enjoy this book if you're drawn to themes of destiny, love, and the search for personal identity in a beautifully atmospheric setting. The narrative resonates with readers who appreciate character-driven stories filled with heart and a touch of the supernatural.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

The stunning prequel to Alice Hoffman’s bestselling and most beloved novel ever, Practical Magic, taking us into the lives of Jet and Frances Owens.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
Everyone needs a little magic in their lives... The Rules of Magic is the long-awaited prequel to Practical Magic, a New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon's Book Club pick!

In this sparkling prequel, we meet the Aunts from Practical Magic: sisters Frances and Jet, along with their brother Vincent. From the beginning, their mother Susanna knew they were unique: Franny, with her skin as pale as milk and blood-red hair, could commune with birds; Jet, as shy as she is beautiful, knows what others are thinking; and Vincent is so charismatic that he was built for trouble.

Susanna needed to set some rules of magic: no walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, and certainly, absolutely, no books about magic…

But the Owens siblings are desperate to uncover who they really are. Each heads down a life-altering course, filled with secrets and truths, devastation and joy, and magic and love. Despite the warning handed down through the family for centuries – Know that for our family, love is a curse – they will all strive to break the rules and find true love.

A perfect read for crisp autumn nights!

Praise for The Rules of Magic:

‘The combination of magic with the universal themes of romantic love and the bond between siblings allows the reader to have one foot in a magical world and another in the realities of family life. Much like the bewitching heroines in this book.’ – The Lady

‘Utterly spellbinding’ – Heat

‘Shows the author at their best… She neatly intertwines their lives with a backdrop that brims with periodic detail. Gnomic maxims add to a wise, seductive, fabular tone… Thrilling and transportive’ – Sunday Times

‘Enchanting… Spellbinding and entertaining’ – Sunday Express

‘Hoffman explores Aunt Frances and Aunt Bridget’s (known here as Jet) awakening to the craft in the 1960s. Franny and Jet, along with their brother Vincent, stay with their Aunt Isabelle. Each of their gifts grow, but can they use them to break the family curse? The Rules of Magic is a gentle tale, perfect as the nights draw in’ – Press Association

‘As efficient a slice of escapism as you would expect from Hoffman… Hoffman’s skill is to ground her light-as-a-feather tale in a very specific time and place: Manhattan in the Sixties. Wisely, she doesn’t rely on the momentous times to do too much work, but the heady atmospherics are expertly interwoven’ – Daily Mail

‘A bewitching, hard to put down tale of the consequences of magic, love and family’ – Bookbag

Series: The Practical Magic Series

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  • Practical Magic
    The beloved classic novel, the basis of the classic film starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock. As children, sisters Gillian and Sally were forever outsiders in their small New England town, teased, taunted, and shunned for the air of magic that seems to sparkle in the air around them. All Gillian and Sally ever wanted was to get away. And...
    By Alice Hoffman
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  • Magic Lessons
    Where does the story of the Owens family begin? With a baby abandoned in a snowy field in the 1600s. Under the care of Hannah Owens, little Maria learns about the “Unnamed Arts.” Hannah recognises that Maria has a gift and she teaches the girl all she knows. When Maria is abandoned by the man she loves, she follows him...
    By Alice Hoffman
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    $2199
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  • The Rules of Magic
    Everyone needs a little magic in their lives... The Rules of Magic is the long-awaited prequel to Practical Magic, a New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon's Book Club pick! In this sparkling prequel, we meet the Aunts from Practical Magic: sisters Frances and Jet, along with their brother Vincent. From the beginning, their mother Susanna knew they were unique:...
    By Alice Hoffman
    Paperback
    $2199
    Elsewhere:
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    Ships today
  • The Book of Magic
    ‘Full of Hoffman’s bewitching and lucid prose and vivid characters, The Book of Magic is ultimately about the very human magic of family and love and actions that echo through generations… it casts a spell’ —Matt Haig THE STUNNING, UNFORGETTABLE CONCLUSION TO THE BELOVED PRACTICAL MAGIC SERIES For centuries, the Owens family has been cursed in matters of love. When...
    By Alice Hoffman
    Paperback
    $2199
    Elsewhere:
    $2699
    In Stock
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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781398515505

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 December 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Scribner UK

Edition: Reissue

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 23.0mm

Width: 130.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 384

Collections

Alice Hoffman Best Sellers at Book Hero Best Selling Books Fantasy Fiction General Fiction Horror & Supernatural In Stock Books In-Stock Fiction Books Literary Fiction New Release Fiction Sci-Fi & Fantasy Series: The Practical Magic Series

About the Author

Alice Hoffman is the author of more than thirty works of fiction, including The Book of Magic, Magic Lessons, The World That We Knew, Practical Magic, The Rules of Magic (a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick), the Oprah’s Book Club Selection Here on Earth, The Red Garden, The Dovekeepers, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, The Marriage of Opposites, and Faithful. She lives near Boston.

Also by Alice Hoffman

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  • Practical Magic
    The beloved classic novel, the basis of the classic film starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock. As children, sisters Gillian and Sally were forever outsiders in their small New England town, teased, taunted, and shunned for the air of magic that seems to sparkle in the air around them. All Gillian and Sally ever wanted was to get away. And...
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    There is a day you never forget, the day the whole world changes. When you close your eyes, light becomes dark, night never ends, beasts walk freely down the street, stars fall from the sky. You were young one second, and then you were far too old. You lived years in minutes and decades in weeks. You wanted to travel,...
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  • The Invisible Hour
    From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of the Practical Magic series comes an enchanting novel about love, heartbreak, self-discovery, and the enduring magic of books. Sixteen-year-old Ivy is pregnant and alone. Cast out by her family, she runs away and finds safety in the arms of Joel Davis. He offers a simpler life than the one she had...
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  • The Dovekeepers
    ‘A major contribution to twenty-first-century literature’ Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate and author of Beloved In the year 70 CE, nine hundred Jews held out for months against the Roman army in ancient Israel. Only two women and five children survived. Based on this tragic event, Alice Hoffman weaves a spellbinding story about the lives of four bold and remarkable women...
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  • Magic Lessons
    Where does the story of the Owens family begin? With a baby abandoned in a snowy field in the 1600s. Under the care of Hannah Owens, little Maria learns about the “Unnamed Arts.” Hannah recognises that Maria has a gift and she teaches the girl all she knows. When Maria is abandoned by the man she loves, she follows him...
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  • The Witches of Cambridge
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    Once upon a time, women were drowned in the river and the only witnesses were the crows in the trees. The Puritans blamed Eve for the sins of the world. That was when we began to meet in the name of Lilith, Adam's first wife—banished for refusing to do as she was told. By the 1950s, Cambridge, Massachusetts feels far...
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  • The Book of Magic
    ‘Full of Hoffman’s bewitching and lucid prose and vivid characters, The Book of Magic is ultimately about the very human magic of family and love and actions that echo through generations… it casts a spell’ —Matt Haig THE STUNNING, UNFORGETTABLE CONCLUSION TO THE BELOVED PRACTICAL MAGIC SERIES For centuries, the Owens family has been cursed in matters of love. When...
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  • The Dovekeepers
    An ambitious and mesmerizing historical novel from the bestselling author of Rules of Magic. The Dovekeepers is "striking....Hoffman grounds her expansive, intricately woven, and deepest new novel in biblical history, with a devotion and seriousness of purpose" (Entertainment Weekly). Nearly two thousand years ago, nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain fortress...
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  • The Invisible Hour
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  • New Release
    Practical Magic 2
    For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620 when Maria Owens was abandoned by the man she loved and tried for witchcraft.Centuries later, in a library in Cambridge, Massachusetts, seventy-eighty-year old Jet Owens hears the call of the deathwatch beetle, signaling that she has only seven days to live. She spends her final days with her...
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  • Pre-order
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    The brand-new series from the bestselling author of Practical Magic, following two brilliant young women in 1950s Cambridge, Massachusetts, as they become immersed in a mysterious secret group of witches at Radcliffe known as the Lilith Society. Once upon a time, women were drowned in the river and the only witnesses were the crows in the trees. The Puritans blamed...
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  • The Best Dog in the World
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    A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Fourteen beloved authors celebrate the life-changing bond with their canine companions in this heartwarming essay collection edited by New York Times bestselling author and lifelong dog lover Alice Hoffman. Anyone who has ever been fortunate enough to share their life with a dog knows the experience is both profound and transformative. Here, in this charming...
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