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Master storyteller Alice Hoffman brings us the conclusion of the Practical Magic series in a spellbinding and enchanting final Owens novel brimming with lyric beauty and vivid characters.
The owens family has suffered a love curse for more than three hundred years, but all that is about to change. The novel begins in a library, the best place to conjure up a story, when dear Aunt Jet Owens hears the death clock beetle and knows she only has seven days to live. jet is not the only one in danger: the curse is already underway.
You are reading: Alice hoffman books in order
A frantic attempt to save a young man’s life drives three generations of owen women and a long-lost brother to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they travel from paris to london to the english countryside where their ancestor mary owens first practiced the nameless art. The younger generation uncovers secrets that Sally, her fiercely protective mother, has kept from them in matters of both magic and love. as kylie owens discovers the truth about who she is and her own dark powers, her aunt franny realizes she’s willing to sacrifice everything for her family, and sally owens realizes she’s willing to give up everything for love.
the book of magic is a stunning conclusion that celebrates mothers and daughters, sisters and brothers, and anyone who has ever been in love.
praise
“i love alice hoffman. Filled with Hoffman’s riveting, lucid prose and vivid characters, The Book of Magic is ultimately about the very human magic of family and love and actions that resonate across generations. full of secrets and splendor, of light and dark, the novel functions both as a stand-alone work and as the conclusion to a riveting series. cast a spell. — matt haig, new york times bestselling author of the midnight library
“alice hoffman has given us a great gift with this series, and this final chapter is sure to be another heartfelt celebration of mothers and daughters and the magic of falling in love.”—lithub
“a wonderful conclusion to the series with a new generation of owens to love. for fans who like their books with a good dose of magic, and readers who enjoy a family saga with characters that conquer. what a treat!” —laura taylor, the oxford exchange
“…the story brims with riveting encounters and suspenseful conflicts that revolve around good magic versus bad magic. hoffman delivers a satisfying close to the owens saga.” —weekly editors
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“hoffman brings the owens family full circle in a finely wrought tale of female relationships, magic and love… the result is a magically realistic story rich in fresh traditions of the owens clan, offering a hopeful and satisfying conclusion to The Hoffman Story. Beloved Practical Magic Series”. —list of books
“The magic book offers a gripping and satisfying conclusion to the series.”— buzzfeed
“there is a magic in hoffman’s prose; delicate, deliberate and relaxing. in fact, it casts a spell that makes the reader reluctant to leave the world of the owens family, even for a minute.” — the berkshire eagle
“hoffman’s lyrical prose and captivating storytelling portray vivid and unforgettable characters throughout the final volume, as the family travels the world to destroy the curse.”— the indie star
“the book of magic contains all the beautiful discoveries and endings to these beloved characters that any hoffman fan could want.”— the book reporter
named one of the most anticipated books of fall 2021 by: reese’s book club, lithub, creepy mommy, atlanta journal-constitution, st. paul pioneer-press, yahoo!, edmonds news, buzzfeed, aarp magazine, your campus, bustle, book riots, popsugar, e, new york times book review, look back, the herald’s message, edmonds news, the book reporter, the balloon joplin
check out my interviews with: hey soul, entertainment weekly, charmed life, the medium, moms don’t have time to write, twice booked podcast, friends & fiction, american scholar/smarty pants podcast, the globe and mail
libraryreads October 2021 Hall of Fame Election
next independent selection of October 2021
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read the new york times book review on the book of magic!
A limited number of signed copies are available from these independent booksellers:
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read an excerpt from the magic book
Some stories start at the beginning and some at the end, but the best stories start in a library. It was there that Jet Owens saw his fate in a mirror behind the reference desk. even in his eighties, jet was still beautiful. each day he would wash himself with the black soap the family made in March during the dark phase of the moon, and then wrap each bar in crinkled cellophane. jet had no aches or pains and she had never been sick a day in her life, but destiny is destiny and it can often be what you least expect it to be. On this day, when the daffodils had begun to bloom, Jet saw that he had seven days to live.
The deathwatch beetle had begun to call from within the walls of the owens library, a sound that often went unnoticed until it was so loud it was all a person could hear. when your time came, the black beetle would retreat from its hiding place and follow you everywhere, no matter where you went. his presence meant that the past was over and the future was no more. this was the moment that revealed how you had walked the world, with kindness or with fear, with an open or closed heart. It had taken Jet so long to realize that every moment was a wonder. now everything he saw was illuminated. the sun streamed through the library windows in fierce bands of orange light. a moth hitting the glass. the movement of the branches of one of the last elms in the community, which shadowed the lawn of the library. Some people crumble or run for cover when their time comes, curse their fate or hide under their beds, but Jet knew exactly what he wanted to do in the last days he had been given. he didn’t have to think twice.
long ago, the library had been a jail where maria owens, the first woman in her family to set foot in massachusetts in 1680, had been confined until the judges announced that she would be hanged. those were the days when witchcraft was forbidden and women were severely punished, judged as dangerous creatures if they talked too much, or read books, or did everything to protect themselves from harm. people said that maria could turn into a raven, that she had the ability to charm men without even speaking to them directly and to force other women to do what they wanted, so that they would be willing to abandon their rightful place in society and in his life. own families. the court set out to destroy maria and was about to, but she couldn’t drown and didn’t back down. she blamed love for her undoing, because she had chosen the wrong man, with dire consequences. Just before the rope that was meant to end her life snapped and she was miraculously saved, Maria screamed a curse on love.
beware of love, he had written on the first page of his diary, which is now on display in the library, a display that mothers in the city used to take their teenage daughters to see before they started dating. beware of the love that was dishonest and disloyal, the love that would lie and deceive you, the love that could break you and doom you to pain, the love that could never be trusted. Had Maria Owens been less reckless, she might have realized that when you curse another, you also curse yourself. curses are like knots, the more you fight to be free, the tighter they get, whether they are rope, spite or despair. Maria cast an incantation to protect future generations, thinking of the best for her daughters and great-granddaughters. for her own safety, they must avoid love. those who did not abide by this rule would find engagements tragic and marriages ending with funerals. Over the years, many of the Owens family had found ways to circumvent the curse, always an intricate and risky undertaking. anyway, a person could cheat fate if they dared, they could change their name, never admit their love, skip a legal union, disappear from sight, or, for those who were careless and wild, just dive in and hope for the best, knowing that sooner or later each one had to face their own destiny.
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