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The Rules of Magic

About The Book

Practical Magic, to date Alice Hoffman’s biggest selling novel, became a major Hollywood film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman who played sisters Sally and Gillian Owens.

In this sparkling prequel we meet sisters Frances and Jet and Vincent, their brother. From the beginning their mother Susanna knew they were unique: Franny with her skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, who could commune with birds; Jet as shy as she is beautiful, who knows what others are thinking, and Vincent 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.

Praise for Alice Hoffman:
‘Like her contemporaries, Carol Shields and Alice Munro, Hoffman has an acute eye for detail… she writes with heartbreaking clarity’ The Times

‘Alice Hoffman is simply brilliant’Daily Mail

'Many novels are called "stunning", but this one truly is: part love story, part mystery , part history, and all beautiful’ Jodi Picoult on The Museum of Extraordinary Things

About The Author

© Alyssa Peek

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.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (October 10, 2017)
  • Length: 400 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781471168994

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Raves and Reviews

Praise for the Practical Magic series

‘Her books are a real pleasure – practical magic’ Kate Atkinson

‘[A] delicious fantasy of witchcraft and love in a world where gardens smell of lemon verbena and happy endings are possible’ Cosmopolitan

‘Dripping with pathos and otherworldly possibility’ Vogue

‘Dark comedy and a light touch carry the story along to a truly Gothic climax, complete with heaving skies and witchery on the lawn’ New York Times

‘A master of magical realism, draws us back into the spellbinding universe of the Owens family with gorgeous prose set against a backdrop of vivid imagery’ Marie Claire

‘A delightful confection – witty, imaginative, unexpectedly touching’ The Times

‘Reading an Alice Hoffman book is like falling into a deep dream where senses are heightened and love reigns supreme… I never wanted to awaken’ Jodi Picoult

‘Hoffman’s classy prose imbues this modern fairy tale with bite as well as beauty’ Mail on Sunday

‘Storytelling is in Hoffman’s bones’ New York Times Book Review

‘Vivid and enchanting… another sublime entry in an arresting series’ Esquire

‘I got so swept up in this enchanting story’ Reese Witherspoon

‘A vivid and evocative tale – prepare to be spellbound’ Woman

‘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

Awards and Honors

  • Shoppers Drug Mart Book Lover's Pick of the Month

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More books from this author: Alice Hoffman

More books in this series: The Practical Magic Series